Bruce James Productions

It's Snow Way to Finish

2012-02-05T05:16:00.000-08:00

The last day of our week in Southend and then Buxton finished in heavy snow falling on the Derbyshire town. The forecast had been for a large dose of the white stuff and because of the height above sea level in the heart of the Peak District there was obviously every chance that the Opera House and the surrounding areas would be severely affected. By all accounts from the cast and crew the snow started around lunchtime and never really let up after that. There was never any chance that either the matinee or the evening shows would be cancelled but the Box Office was probably affected, especially the evening performance when the snowfall had taken full hold. Because of the deteriorating forecast the vast majority of the company, well all except Kylie whose parents were in the audience last night and took her home, stayed an extra night in the town and then made their attempts to get home. It was probably just as well they did as the south of the country received its major snow around 11 p.m. so any journey back to London and/or Essex might have been a nightmare. Indeed there were stories of drivers and their passengers stranded on the M25 for over eight hours and the A127, the main route towards Southend was blocked by a broken down gritter of all things and that left many other cars either abandoned or just with nowhere to go as the snow took hold.

Back in Buxton, the lorry that was due to arive at the theatre to allow the Get-Out to happen phoned to say that conditions were so bad they had only gone 400 yards in an hour and there was seemingly no way they were going to get anywhere near their intended destination. In such situations there is very little that can be done except to grin and bear it and, having re-arranged the set to be loaded on Tuesday, Chris, the Company manager, text me shortly after midnight to say the flats etc had been struck and the company had all managed to get back to their digs. The cold weather seems to be set in for the week over the East of the country so maybe it is a good thing that our tour has a week out this week before it moves on to Lowestoft and then Stevenage in the following week.

An Eventful Bedfull

2012-02-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

We are only half way through the second week of A BEDFULL OF FOREIGNERS and already its been an eventful one. For Tuesday and Wednesday the production was seen playing at the Palace Theatre in Southend and on the first night Adam, the understudy was on in place of Paul, who was on compassionate leave attending a funeral in Liverpool. As Paul is 6' 3" and Adam about 5' 8" there were obviously some discrepancies in the costume department, so Company Manager Chris and Adam went to our store in the centre of Southend to sort that all out on the Monday. On the Tuesday with the Get-in underway at the theatre I went over to Edmonton to see if I could find some size 8 boots for Adam and locate our smoke machine. As I was leaving Chris sent me a text asking if I could collect the white gauze from Billericay as the Palace Theatre didn't have a cyc we could use. That part of his text was fairly easy to sort out although I did have to drive into Southend to get the store keys from Chris. However the request to bring a single mattress I told him wasn't something I was likely to be able to fulfil as I was using our Toyota Yaris, in which a mattress of any kind just wasn't going to fit. Chris explained we were a camp bed short, having borrowed one in Chesterfield last week, but as luck would have it, on his next visit to the charity shop across the road from the theatre a camp bed had come in overnight. Now that is what you call timing. By the time I returned from Billericay the rest of the company had arrived at the theatre and were going through Adam's scenes for the evening. With Adam going on for the first time it was almost like an opening night all over again - well certainly for Adam in his role as 'Heinz' the hotel manager. The first Palace Theatre performance went very well in front of a very appreciative audience and all was looking good for the two shows on the Wednesday.

However it wasn't all plain sailing for those two shows, especially the matinee, as the sprinklers above the Palace Theatre stage had leaked overnight and soaked the carpet on the set as well as a lot of the wires and cables. The theatre crew warned Chris that they would have to be 100% certain that nine of the electrics had been compromised by the water or the matinee would have to be cancelled. The prospect of losing the performances on the day wasn't a good one as both shows were particularly busy so it was fingers crossed that the crew would be able to complete their mopping up operations and ensure all was safe prior to the house opening about 2 p.m. Fortunately for all concerned I received a text message from Chris about 1.50 to say the "house is now open". That was indeed good news and both of the two Wednesday performances went really well with lots of laughs and fun enjoyed by all.

Today [Thursday], as the temperatures plummeted in Essex, the production headed north back to Derbyshire for four performances at the beautiful Buxton Opera House. With Buxton being in the centre of the Peak District and some 1,000 feet above sea level, it is the highest market town in England. Suffice to say that snow is far more likely in the current cold conditions up there than in many other places. Fortunately it would appear any snow for the rest of the week seems more likely to arrive in Essex rather than over the latest tour venue as the cold snap moves in from the East rather than the North. Let's hope the forecast is right and the performances in Buxton are unaffected by any white stuff although I anticipate it will be very cold!

A Bedfull of Foreigners Opens Its Doors

2012-01-30T14:29:00.000-08:00

Nearly a week has gone by since the opening night of A BEDFULL OF FOREIGNERS and maybe that is a mark of how busy we have been since that first performance. The lead up to the opening night did have a few problems and the old adage that a bad Dress Rehearsal makes for a good show was certainly brought to the fore. However after all the trials and tribulations it all came together to be "all right on the night" and the large initial audience were soon laughing loudly at the farce as Damian Williams was on top form. With Damian having done the play a few times before he is well aware of what works and what doesn't so there wasn't the danger for him that some farces can create. However that wasn't necessarily true of soem of the rest of the cast and I am sure they all felt better having done the first night. Even the try-out Wednesday matinee, a performanace that had worked very well for our tour of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE back in November, was very popular again as were all the other performances. This was particularly true of the Saturday night which Damian described as a "brilliant house". The production moves on to Southend's Palace Theatre for three performances on Tuesday and Wednesday [another Wednesday matinee] before moving back to Derbyshire for the rest of the week at Buxton Opera House.

A Bedfull of Foreigners Rehearsals Day Four

2012-01-20T01:52:00.001-08:00

Day Four started with a scene between Charlotte and Damian which takes the farce into one of the funniest sections of the whole thing. Once again timing and knowing exactly where you want the audience to be looking is very important. After about an hour things were looking good and as the rest of the company arrived we were able to move on to the next sections and, ultimately, towards the final scenes of the play. There is still a long way to go especially as we have a few people who have not worked for us before. In my experience every actor works slightly differently in terms of learning their lines and because we are working so fast it can throw some people when others are much quicker at learning lines. It is a bit of a juggling act making sure that those that know their lines feel comfortable with it all and those that are not quite up to speed with them don't feel intimidated. Having got fairly close to the end of the play I am anticipating that all the cast will know where they are by tomorrow so, by Friday afternoon we are in a position to do a complete run. We shall see.

A Bedfull of Foreigners Rehearsals Day Three

2012-01-18T10:02:00.001-08:00

A bit of an epic bus journey to Leigh today but got there in the end although for a bus journey there was a hell of a lot of walking involved. Anyway I made it to rehearsals on time and carried on from where we got to yesterday. Things went well and by midday we were right to the end of Act One where the last character in the play arrives. That is Simone played by Charlotte Dawson, who is the 19 year old daughter of the late, great Les Dawson. Her famous comedian Dad died of a heart attack when Charlotte was just eight months old so she never got to know him properly but she is immensely proud of her Dad and his legacy. Coming on at the end of a farce act, as Charlotte's character does, is a difficult task as you immediately have to pick up everyone's speed and level whilst maintaining the comedy. I have done it myself and it is almost like gatecrashing someones party when everyone is already having fun and you are desperately trying to join in. As I have no doubt said before on this Blog; farces look easy but they really aren't as the timing and business has to be spot on. As a director, making sure the audience is focused on exactly what you want at any given point is crucial to getting as many laughs as possible. It is all about pace as much as anything as too slow will lose laughs and too fast will not give the audience time to laugh which is what it is all about when all is said and done. There was a complete run of Act One to finish the day off having got through about a third of Act Two in the afternoon. That went well and the production is really coming together. We are well on schedule too so that's another tick in the box.

A Bedfull of Foreigners Rehearsals Day Two

2012-01-17T08:52:00.000-08:00

Rehearsals for A BEDFULL OF FOREIGNERS were cold today. When we arrived at the studio David (playing Karak) described the temperature as "glacial" and it was hard to disagree with that word. When your breath can be seen indoors you know its freezing. By the time Damian arrived we were still able to ask if he had "brought any meat with him to store?". Once we had worked out how the bottled gas fire worked things did improve but it was never truly comfortable. Let's hope for milder weather for the rest of the week or we may have to consider changing places. The day was very productive and we managed to get through three quarters of the farce before we finished. We should be able to complete Act One tomorrow without too many problems. There is no real 'danger' for Damian in this production as he knows it and we know it works. However no-one else has done it previously so it still needs to have all the timing sorted out and making sure everything is in the right place at the right time. It was a hard working day in order to keep it all moving and in some ways to combat the cold. In the lunch break Paul (playing Heinz) treated us to stories of his undertaking job which he does whilst resting which are always a great source of entertainment. Strange how a subject as sombre as death can provide so many funny events. Kylie (playing Brenda) also related that a friend of hers had just arrived back in Blackpool having been working on the stricken cruise ship Costa Concordia when it ran aground last Friday. It turns out she was the magicians assistant and when the ship hit the rock that caused the tragic accident this girl was inside the illusion box waiting to reappear. Fortunately someone did remember to get her out and tell her to get off the ship. Apparently she only went home with the clothes she had on, which were minimal given the routine she was involved in. Everything else she had is lost or seems soon to be so given the perilous nature of the ships position. Makes you realise that sometimes you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Let's hope the tour of A Bedfull of Foreigners doesn't suffer any freakish accidents either caused by human error or Mother Nature causing trouble.

A Bedfull of Foreigners Rehearsals Day One

2012-01-16T08:43:00.000-08:00

After the excitement of panto it was back into the world of farce today with the first rehearsal of A Bedfull of Foreigners which opens next Tuesday in Chesterfield before embarking on a tour until mid-April. It was a frosty morning, one of the first heavy ones I can remember this Winter, that greeted my walk to the station. Fortunately it was not a problem getting into Leigh for rehearsals so apart from a couple of late arrivals because of travel issues the company were all ready to start when I got there. The cold meant the hearing in the small studio was a bit more necessary than it had been the last time we were there but no-one complained about it. However I did notice a migration towards the main heater after the lunch break! Having done the play twice before; once in 1995 when it was one of the first productions we did and once in 2006, it is not as difficult as some we have done recently. Damian who has done it both times also knows it extremely well so that takes the 'danger' out of it from his point of view. The rest of the cast are split as three have worked for BJP before and three haven't so that's probably a good mix. By the mid-afternoon the whole farce was blocked and that means we can start putting the 'flesh on the bones' from tomorrow morning. All in all a very good day and its looks like its going to be an enjoyable week.

A Great Panto Season Ends in Style

2012-01-04T13:50:00.000-08:00

The last day of the 2011/12 Panto season took place yesterday at the Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield with the final two performances of ROBIN HOOD & THE BABES IN THE WOOD. As we have had at almost every show this year both houses were packed and the audiences seemed to have an absolute ball watching the production. Between the two performances we had our traditional Pizza Party to say thanks to all the wonderful youngsters who had appeared as the Babes, Juves and Intermediate Dancers over the past five weeks including the rehearsals. I think this year's pantomime was one of the best we had done in our eight years producing the Christmas show at the venue. The company were excellent and everyone, without exception, seemed to gel together and make for a fabulous atmosphere both on and off the stage. We would like to send our grateful thanks to everyone who has been involved in both our pantomimes this year and it has been an absolute pleasure working with you all. I hope our paths will cross again very soon. Today [Wednesday] it has been a trip to our store in Edmonton to put everything away for another year and I suppose, it is at this point that you know the pantomime season is truly over. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the 362 days of 2012 will bring but, for now, we will toast the success of the latest pantomime season with two tremendously entertaining shows.

Robin Hood Secret Santa Party

2012-01-01T13:53:00.000-08:00

The 'Secret Santa' for the ROBIN HOOD & THE BABES IN THE WOOD Company was an affair when 'Santa' was extremely generous and everyone seemed to get a great present. There were lots of memorable moments although my particular favourite was when Kim Taylforth - a big Osmonds fan - was presented with a bottle of wine and a white thong proclaiming 'I love Donny Osmond'. Kim was very happy to receive the gift but confessed she originally thought it was a small T shirt!? The company also had their end of run party on the Friday night before New Year's Eve and Shaz, Abbie and Sarah and, apparently, to a lesser extent James, spent a huge amount of time making a whole host of awards [seen below] which were presented to the assembled company. It was a very enjoyable night with some lovely food provided by Pauline as per usual, a cash quiz that was won by Daniel's team and that ended with a few party games. We have been privileged to have two fabulous companies this Christmas pantomime season and it is hard to believe that there are only four shows left.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T13:18:00.000-08:00

Our pantomime PUSS IN BOOTS at the Webster Theatre in Arbroath was a big success and we would like to thank the excellent company, crew and theatre staff for everything they did to make sure it was such a fantastic run. It doesn't seem possible that it is all over in Scotland but hopefully we all have some great memories of the production. Here are a few photos from the end of run Pizza Party thrown for the Juves and Inters on the last afternoon and just before the last matinee.

PUSS IN BOOTS Publicity in Dundee

2011-12-14T05:59:00.000-08:00

The PUSS IN BOOTS company from our production at the Webster Theatre in Arbroath spent the first day of rehearsals at the Overgate Shopping Centre in Dundee. It actuallly coincided with St.Andrews Day and a 'day of action; against Government pension cuts so the mall was very crowded. The march associated with the 'day of action' caused a few problems with some of the cast getting to the Centre car parks but in the end they all arrived and the publicity was very successful.

PUSS IN BOOTS - Arbroath

2011-12-14T05:43:00.000-08:00

More production photos are available on our Facebook page

ROBIN HOOD & THE BABES IN THE WOOD - Chesterfield

2011-12-14T04:58:00.000-08:00

More production photos are available on our Facebook page.

Apologies into Panto Land

2011-12-14T04:27:00.000-08:00

First of all let me apologise for the distinct lack of Blog posts over the past three weeks. I am afraid the busy period of getting our two pantomimes on and finishing off our hugely successful tour of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE coincided with the continued ill health of my brother-in-law in his battle against leukaemia. Sadly that was a battle that he finally lost last Saturday evening but his passing does mean we are able to get back to doing things outside of travelling to hospices and family. Both our pantomimes at Arbroath [PUSS IN BOOTS] and Chesterfield [ROBIN HOOD & THE BABES IN THE WOOD] are now fully underway and in the midst of a week of Schools performances that are always difficult for companies to get their heads around as so much about being an actor revolves around evening work. Trying to get into a regime that means you have to be in the theatre by 9 a.m. is completely alien and takes a bit of getting used to. It does mean the evenings are free but that never really prepares you for doing morning shows. Of course the schools market for pantomime productions is extremely important so it is not something that I can ever see not happening and the children we engage with the shows are the theatre-goers of the future so we have a duty to entertain them as royally as we can.

Both pantomime companies are amongst some of the best and friendliest I can ever remember and it has been a joy to work with both sets of actors, actresses, dancers, crew and musicians etc from the very outset. Although Scotland was beset by a violent storm on the day before PUSS IN BOOTS opened so far we have seen little sign of snow and certainly nothing anywhere near as we had last year when it was knee deep in all our venues. Later this afternoon we will be posting some photos of both pantomimes as well as some from a publicity outing in Dundee's Overgate shopping centre. Hopefully now we will be able to maintain the Blog with more frequency.

Chesterfield Christmas Lights Switch-On

2011-11-23T15:40:00.001-08:00

An Unsettling Evening

2011-11-23T15:23:00.000-08:00

An Unsettling Evening Approaches

2011-11-16T13:20:00.001-08:00

We have just finished the penultimate day of rehearsals for AN UNSETTLING EVENING which is due to open at Southend's Palace Theatre on Thursday night. Today has been a long day starting with a line run of Story Four which we hadn't done last night. Kerry was absent today due to a long established hospital appointment I had allowed her to attend and then James, who had started to feel poorly during the day yesterday, could hardly speak such were his cold symptoms. I offered him the chance to go home but he did stick it out until late afternoon when he eventually asked if my offer still stood. The lighting had been plotted in the afternoon so in the evening we were able to do a staggered Technical Rehearsal putting the Sound effects in as well. As I had anticipated this did take a long time as it is a piece that relies heavily on everything coming together at exactly the right moment for maximum effect. We managed to get through Stories One and Two before it became necessary to halt and proceedings and give two of the Robs (CSM & sound) the chance to get their cues matching up together. With the show opening tomorrow it was important to give the company a bit of relaxation time before that busy day so by 8.45 I had sent everyone home. I am looking forward to tomorrow and the first performance to see if the play can do the business and really be unsettling!

An Unsettling Evening Rehearsals

2011-11-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

Sunday saw the first rehearsal of AN UNSETTLING EVENING, a collection of four ghost stories by M.R. James, and adapted by Andrew Hawcroft, which will be playing for four performances at Southend's Palace Theatre this coming Thursday to Saturday. The rehearsal today was held at Masters Performing Arts College and was initially beset with travel problems for some of the company including a dodgy clutch for James Campbell's car, and train engineering works for Nick Murphy and Kerry Wotton which led to journey times of three and a half hours from central London to Rayleigh. However the rest of the rehearsal time was very productive and I managed to block, or re-block, all of the play by the end of the day at 6 p.m. The rest of the week will be spent in the the theatre although it is going to be a busy period in order to get the show on by Thursday night. Elsewhere DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER finished its week at the same Palace Theatre on Saturday night and it was a goodbye to a great cast, a couple of which are off to start panto rehearsals as early as tomorrow and next Sunday. It was good to catch up with so many friends at the Essex venue including fellow producer Jamie Marcus, whose wife Julie was in the production, and who I had a long conversation with on Saturday night. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE also finished a good week at Chesterfield's Pomegranate Theatre although the Get-Out was delayed by a missing lorry that only arrived at the venue two hours late. The production is off to the beautiful Theatre Royal Windsor, which stands right in the shadow of Windsor Castle, where is will open on Monday night for another exciting week.

It's A Wonderful Life Opens in Chesterfield

2011-11-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

After DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER opened in Southend on the Monday night, it was off to Chesterfield early on Tuesday morning to get IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE into a similar position. As the Get-in at the Pomegranate had also been on the Monday, things were a bit more advanced and, by the time I got there, Miles, the Lighting Designer was already in the middle of sorting out the lighting for the show with the resident crew. It was a day in a Producer's role rather than that of a Director and, reminded of a French and Saunders sketch that asked the difference between a Producer and a Director, I settled down to produce whilst Sallie directed. That is, after all, what the difference is - a Producer produces and a Director directs. The company and the band of four were called for a Band Call at 10 a.m. which took place under the stage area allowing the lighting to continue on top of them. With beautiful music and singing drifting out across the auditorium it was clear that if we could get all the components of the production together we would have a great show. Even with the extra day there was still an element of a race against time in order to get a full Dress Rehearsal in during the afternoon. It is not a long show, which probably went a long way to achieving this goal and even though we started later than anticipated there was still a couple of hours to sort out a few things before the actual first night. It was another good sized opening night house and the production itself went really well and the excellent company really gave it everything they had. There were the expected first night bits and pieces that will only get better and after a note session on the Wednesday morning the midweek matinee was even closer to where the production needed to be. It is a lovely musical and I don't think you can see it without getting into the Christmas spirit or having a warm feeling inside.

Don't Dress For Dinner in Southend

2011-11-12T11:37:00.001-08:00

A spare week at the Palace Theatre in Southend led to a production of DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER, one of the best farces, at the Essex venue where it played to big houses and an excellent reaction all week. Although it is a comedy we have done a few times before it always takes a bit of rehearsal, and ultimately performance time, to get it completely right and the timing spot on. With three days rehearsal last week, the company of six, four of whom had done the play before, were called on Monday morning for a run-through in the bar area of the Palace. This was very helpful and it was obvious by the end of that session that things were going to be OK by the time the evening arrived and the first performance. The cast went off to get bits and pieces and for lunch and Geoff, the CSm, carried on with light focussing and plotting. As it turned out the estimated start time of the Dress Rehearsal kept being put back from its initial 3 p.m. to nearer to 4. This wasn't really too much of a problem as the first show was at 8 p.m. and, without the laughter, and some of the audience-based business, it is not as long a play as some we have done. The Dress was done without the 'drinks' and the 'foam' as there wouldn't have been time to get all the costumes dry again before the opening night but as those involved with this part of proceedings had done all of this before this wasn't an issue. With the Dress out of the way and only a few tweaks here and there required there was about 90 minutes to go before the first curtain, although that wasn't quite true as we weren't actually using the house tabs this week. The show itself went extremely well with a good sized house and lots and lots of laughs as has become the norm with this farce. Even though I have been in the play myself on two previous occasions and seen it more times than I care to remember it still makes me laugh a lot. This must be the 'acid test' of a good comedy. By the audience reaction throughout and the reception at the end I suggest those who came to see the Monday night show went out with a smile on their faces.

It's A Wonderful Life Rehearsals

2011-11-12T06:15:00.000-08:00

The rehearsals for our short tour of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE were all held at Dance Attic in Fulham starting on the afternoon of the last Sunday in October with a music rehearsal as there was a lot of harmonies to go through. This particular rehearsal meant that when Sallie Warrington, who was directing the production could start blocking from the top after a read-through on the Monday morning. Doing a musical in such a short space of time is never easy but financial practicalities sometimes determine this has to be done. I would love to have the luxury of four or five weeks rehearsal but on a short tour like that which we are embarking on with IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE it is a definite consideration. It was a busy week in many respects with DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER to get ready for the following Monday in Southend as well as the last date of NOT NOW DARLING. I did manage to get back into the Dance Attic on the Friday afternoon to see how the musical rehearsals were coming along. It was satisfying to see that everything was progressing extremely well and the show was well on course for its opening night on Tuesday at Chesterfield's Pomegranate Theatre. The company had their last rehearsals in London on the Saturday and then, with Sunday off, it was time to travel to Chesterfield to re-convene at midday on Monday.

The End of Not Now Darling

2011-11-12T05:29:00.000-08:00

With a few family issues still getting in the way there are a few things to catch up on in our first posts of November. Our very successful tour of NOT NOW DARLING finished its hilarious run with two packed performances at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil. With such big houses the atmosphere for both shows was excellent and at the one I attended on the Wednesday night the venue was really buzzing and there were lots of loud laughter to be heard throughout the performance. We were, once again, very fortunate to have a great company and they all worked really hard throughout the tour to make it a success. Chris, the CSM, had also taken the time and trouble to produce an 'End of Tour' quiz which was very much enjoyed by the cast at a tea party prior to the last show. We would like to thank all the company, the crew, the venue staffs and, of course, all the audiences who attended the shows and shared so much laughter with us on the tour, for being part of what was a very enjoyable production. Some of the cast were also involved in our rep week of DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER which has been in Southend this week at the Palace Theatre and, to this end, they rehearsed at Dance Attic on the Monday and then in Southend on the Thursday and Friday.

Double Rehearsals

2011-10-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

Our second day in London this week actually saw two shows being rehearsed at the same time with IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE in one studio and DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER in an adjacent one. Sallie was directing the Musical and I was doing the comedy although we were an actor down as Damian Williams was suffering from a stomach bug and couldn't make today. Hopefully he will be better tomorrow as NOT NOW DARLING has a bumper house at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil. I am not sure I know his part well enough to go on if he doesn't make it so fingers crossed his sickness is of the 24 hour variety. It was good to see some old friends in Jax and Julie for DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER and it was not a difficult day in many ways as we have done the comedy several times before. Sallie managed to block all of the Act One dialogue and by the time MD Katy arrived they were in a position to go through all the Act One music too. This was a good exercise for all the company and things were already beginning to come together by the time I left rehearsals about 5 pm. By that time the DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER cast had already headed home or, in Jax's case, back to Southend for a Murder/Mystery evening. They now get a couple of days off as NOT NOW DARLING finishes and then it is all systems go again in Southend on Thursday & Friday. All in all it was another very busy day but hopefully it will all be worthwhile by the time of opening nights next week.

Its A Wonderful Life Rehearsals Day One

2011-10-31T01:10:00.001-07:00

A Sunday rehearsal in London is never ideal not least because of all the engineering works that seem to always be ongoing on lines from Southend into the capital and then, once you struggle in there the tube network is under so much renovation that getting across to Dance Attic is a work of art. Yesterday, thankfully the Liverpool Street line was free of the dreaded engineering works but was still slower than normal because of more stops. The tube however was not so forgiving & it was three changes later that a circuitous route had been negotiated and Charlotte (CSM) and I finally arrived at Dance Attic. I am only wearing a producers hat for this show as Sallie Warrington is directing. However Sunday was always designated as a music learning day as there is a lot in this musical. With this in mind Katy (Musical Director) spent the rehearsal time from midday till 6 teaching the assembled company all the numbers in Act One so, when Sallie joins us on Monday we will be ahead on that front. It was soon very obvious that we have a fabulous cast and the sound they are going to make is going to be super. After a brief vocal warm-up it was time to get into the first number of the show, which is probably one of the most difficult. By the proposed lunch break that number was already sounding good and the company appeared to be gelling together very quickly.
The rest of the day also went very smoothly and by 6 pm Katy had managed to work through the whole of Act One and everyone seemed very happy. It is the start of a very busy period as we have both ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE & DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER opening next week. At least the long drawn out journey home provided plenty of time to think about what has to be done.

It's A Wonderful Life Auditions in Lowestoft

2011-10-30T07:35:00.000-07:00

Our tour of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, which opens in Chesterfield on Tuesday 8th November requires one child to play the part of 'Zuzu', one of the Bailey children in the production. On Saturday it was a trip to the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft in order to hold auditions for that role. The part is supposed to be 6 years of age but in view of the way the production works and all that the part entails we had asked for children of 8 and over who looked a bit younger than their actual age. As it turned out all of those who applied for any audition were of a very high standard and by the end of it all we probably could have used all of those who turned up. The audition required them to sing, either 'Happy Birthday' or a song of their own choosing, although I did suggest that singing anything by Nicki Minaj or Beyonce might not show off their voice to full effect. It is all very well being able to remember the lyrics of your favourite pop song but it is quite another if it doesn't show us that you can sing and project your voice. Then it was time for the acting audition which consisted firstly of something from the script and then a general section. All of those who attended were very capable of doing all of the singing and acting so it was a tough choice. There was a brief interlude whilst a photographer from the Lowestoft Journal took a picture of the assembled children for next week's newspaper. A short movement audition was next and, once again it was obvious that everyone was more than happy with any simple movement involved in the show for their role. The auditionees were asked to sing one more time before it was time to make the difficult choice of selecting one child. In the end we settled on a 9 year-old girl from nearby Kessingland called Tuppence (her Mother is called 'Penny' and photo above) and she will be appearing in the show at the Marina Theatre from Tuesday 22nd to Thursday 24th November. We offer our congratulations to Tuppence and, indeed, to all the children who attended, as they should all be very proud of themselves for the standard they showed.

Two Great Nights

2011-10-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

A weekend that saw two great shows at two great theatres started with a West End showcase for BUGLE BOY - THE LIFE STORY OF GLENN MILLER at the beautiful Garrick Theatre in Charing Cross Road run by Nimax Theatres. With the Get-in starting at 10 a.m. I caught a fairly early train into London from Upminster as Network Rail seem to think that no-one wants to use their network on a weekend and consequently there were direct trains from Rayleigh into Liverpool Street. The Get-in at the Garrick was actually quite difficult as it includes a twenty foot drop from street level to the stage for the rostra and set that we were using and the rest of the stuff came in through front of house and then had to be brought down a long flight of stairs to the auditorium and then on to the stage itself. I arrived just as the van was being unloaded and assisted as best I could alongside sound engineer Andy and two 'helpers' from Chesterfield's Pomegranate Theatre in Trig and Shane plus ASM Matt and CSM and Production Manager Geoff. Geoff had already been positioning everything and, after having a technical meeting earlier in the week with the resident technical team, was confident of getting all the lighting etc sorted by the proposed time of the Dress Rehearsal at 3 p.m. As there was no possibility of moving or re-focussing any of the lights, Geoff simply had to make do with what was in the lighting rig and he did a marvellous job of this as it can't have been easy to replicate what we had achieved on the rest of the mini-tour. With several of the cast making their West End 'debuts' it was noticeable that most of the company were in the building and soaking up the atmosphere long before their actual call time. I felt a bit like a cat on a hot tin roof finding it difficult to just sit and watch what was going on. I suppose me subconscious was thinking I really ought to be doing what little I could to aid the preparations knowing that time was precious in order to get to the opening curtain with all set and ready. The band were also in situ with lots of time to spare and the sound check started with Geoff finishing off the lighting around it. Andy [sound] was situated just off the front of the stage which made his job much more difficult as he had to keep coming out into the auditorium and checking that all was sounding just right. Personally I think the sound was probably the best it had been on the whole tour, an opinion shared by many who saw the show in the Dress Rehearsal and the subsequent performance. By just after 3 p.m. we were able to start the Dress and it was soon obvious that the company had lost none of the performance level seen at Rhyl eight days previously and, although the stage and acting areas were about a quarter of that previous venue, they coped admirably with the differences. A lack of a house curtain also meant that we had to have a pre-set in order to get the band in position and meant the safety curtain had to be dropped to enable the end of Act One to be done as it had been previously. This wasn't ideal but it was a case of adapting to the surroundings and doing the very best we could. By the end of the Dress I was satisfied that the show was going to be a success providing everyone kept their nerve and the audience went along with the whole thing as they had done throughout the rest of the previous performances. Outside things were also taking shape, in the main thanks to David Wilder, one of the cast, who worked very hard to set up bunting, flags and posters for the show on the billboards at the front of the theatre. He had also organised music, lindyhop dancers, two American WW2 jeeps and the red carpet that only added to the atmosphere and the feel of the show. As the audience began to arrive the Garrick was really buzzing and in the auditorium and backstage there was a fantastic air of anticipation. Almost before you had time to think about the performance ahead everyone was in position and the houselights faded to black and we were off into the world of Glenn Miller. I have to say the actual performance could not have gone any better with the cast and band being terrific throughout the show. Indeed the overwhelming feeling of those I spoke to and/or heard from after the show was that the band were magnificent and the cast couldn't have been much better. To get a unanimous standing ovation at the curtain call was almost more than I could have asked for but as the audience rose to their feet as the company and band finished 'In The Mood' and 'Kalamazoo' that is what we achieved and that was very much the icing on the cake. After thanking the whole company for a superb effort it was time to meet a huge number of old friends who had come to support us in the Garrick Arms next door. This included a very satisfied looking Den, the writer, whose dream it had been to see the show on a West End stage. My wife Becky and I were conscious of getting the last train home and also relieving her babysitting parents so they could drive back to Dorset and their work the next morning. With that in mind we spoke to as many people as possible and then headed back towards Essex. As it turned out we didn't need the train as the van carrying the set went via Upminster so I could take the hired projector back in my car rather than via the tube etc. The following day, Monday, was another long but ultimately very satisfying day as I drove Damian Williams up to Sheffield and another beautiful theatre in the Lyceum for his one-man performance of Ron Aldridge's comedy MY DOG'S GOT NO NOSE. That was being staged for one night as part of the 'Grin Up North Comedy Festival' which has events all over Sheffield throughout October. The hired projector mentioned above from BUGLE BOY was duly returned to Loughton and then it was off up the M1 to Sheffield. By the time we arrived at the theatre we had discovered that the van carrying the set and props had run out of fuel about a mile from its destination and things hadn't really started on stage. Damian went off on his own to gather his thoughts about what was to come as much as anything whilst Chris, the CSM, set sound levels and a few other things that he could do before finally the stricken van arrived with its cargo. It wasn't long before Damian was on stage going through the show and, in complete contrast to yesterday's big numbers in the production, just having one person just shows the diversity of theatre and the shows we do. MY DOG'S GOT NO NOSE really is a tremendous play and Damian is just brilliant in it showing that he is not only a very funny comedian but also that he is a very good actor. After Damian's run-through we met up with the author, Ron, across from the theatre in Crucible Corner. He was suitably excited about his play being performed in such a great theatre and we spent a couple of enjoyable hours in his company before Damian and I retreated to the dressing room area backstage and Damian prepared to face his audience. Although the 1,100 seater auditorium wasn't full there was a decent sized house for a Monday night in Sheffield and they were royally entertained by Mr. Williams and the play. Laughter rolled around the theatre and it was obvious the audience were thoroughly enjoying the comedy. When the big twist came in Act Two which no-one ever seems to see coming Damian had the audience in the palm of his hand and you could have heard a pin drop inside the massive space. The power of theatre was never more ably demonstrated by the last half of that act. Once again the audience reception at the curtain call was well deserved and Damian got the sort of extended applause his performance merited. Before long, after a trip back to Crucible Corner to catch up with some of the audience as well as a hugely satisfied playwright, it was back towards the M1 and the journey back to Essex. It had been two great nights with two completely different productions but both served as a great reminder of exactly why I am involved in this wonderful business.

Chesterfield Panto Launch

2011-10-08T07:05:00.001-07:00

It has been a manic ten days with hardly time to do anything on the Blog. Thursday 29th September saw the Press Launch for our eighth pantomime at the Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield. Without a car of my own at the moment it was an early start to get over to Southend Airport to pick up a Hire Car in order to carry on with the day and the rest of the week. Once linked up with the necessary wheels it was time to drive to our store in Edmonton and pick up the costumes required for the lunchtime photo shoot. Once at the store the quest to find the bits and pieces needed was seriously hampered by the lights inside our unit being out so it was a difficult job looking for things under the minimal light of my mobile phone. Fortunately I had a fair idea of where everything was as I had put it away earlier in the year. I left Edmonton slightly behind schedule and hopeful that I wouldn't hit any traffic on the M1. Although the seemingly endless roadworks slowed things down I was still in the shadow of the famous town Spire with half an hour to spare before the photos were due to start. Kim, who played Fairy for us last year at Grays, George (Sheriff), James (Smiley O'Riley) and Alex (Robin Hood) were already getting ready in the Dressing Rooms downstairs so it didn't take long to get them all costumed and heading over to the churchyard with the photographer. As it was a very sunny and warm day the photos were far easier than in some years when rain has got in the way.
After quite a session getting lots of good photos on both sides of the Chesterfield Church it was time to go ropund the town centre giving out leaflets for the pantomime and meeting and greeting with the public who were going about doing their shopping. After causing as much of a commotion as possible to get people's attention and advertise the pantomime it was back to the theatre for interviews and refreshments. As I was on a tight schedule I had to leave earlier than I probably would have done under normal circumstances or when I didn't have another show to get to. I collected all the costumes together again, said my goodbyes to the cast and the management of the theatre and pointed the car towards North Wales and the Rhyl Pavilion Theatre. At that point, leaving the crooked spire behind the schedule was looking good and the SatNav was showing 6.00 p.m. as my estimated time of arrival. However the route took me through Stockport and briefly on to the M60 and that proved to be full of traffic on a Thursday evening rush hour around Manchester. That slowed everything down and, as a result I didn't arrive in Rhyl until after the half hour call. However, by that point, all was more than ready for the 7.30 performance so there was nothing for me to do but take my seat in the auditorium and enjoy the show. That I did and it was satisfying to see that the whole audience also seemed to thoroughly enjoy the show and the venue was buzzing as the crowd filed out of the theatre and headed home.

More Scary Auditions

2011-09-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

Monday saw another audition day at Dance Attic as we head towards our other Musical tour of the autumn and the production of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. The journey into London was interrupted by delays with track defects and yet another suicidal person on the railway line near Seven Kings. However, despite arriving at Liverpool Street Station half an hour later than advertised, the tube part of the journey was a lot smoother and I was able to arrive at the audition venue just before we were due to start. With Katy, the Musical Director, doing the piano playing for the auditions and Sallie, in a role of Assistant Director/Choreographer, also in attendance, it was a very long day which hardly allowed us chance to draw breath as we tried to see as many people as possible. The morning was worst for this as this session finished about 1.35, which doesn't seem that late until you realise that the afternoon part of the day was scheduled to start at 1.40. It was an excellent day, if a little scary, as there were so many supremely talented people on show, the majority of whom shared the one factor of being 'out of work', although we did see a few that were coming to the end of long contracts and were trying to make sure their longevity of employment was continued. It was almost as if talented performer after talented performer moved in through the door and left the trio of us, as the audition panel, stunned into silence at their performance for us. I don't remember ever attending a day previously with so many fantastic singers and performers in one session and whilst, on the one hand, it was a real pleasure to be around such talent, on another level it was scary that so many great people are available to work. Obviously having such a great pool of singers, actors and actresses to choose from is a considerable bonus for our production but once again I found myself finishing the day with a feeling of trepidation for this great business we all shared and love to be involved in. One of the auditionees maybe put her finger on the fact that these days it is a profession that so many youngsters, and older people for that matter, as we saw quite a few older men who professed to have come into the business after successful careers elsewhere, are tempted into because of programmes like THE X FACTOR and BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT. Consequently there are more Dance Colleges, Performing Arts Colleges, Drama Schools and Universities offering courses and training to a multitude of new graduates and post-graduates each year. With more educational facilities available and the promise of a career doing such a wonderful job, it is sad to see so many people not able to find work. I would have loved to offer so many of them an opportunity to come and work for us but we are only one small company just trying to survive at a difficult and tough time when everyone wants to get involved in productions etc but not everyone wants to come and see every show. Who knows where all this talent will end up but unless something changes very soon we will have a lot of gifted people left frustrated and discouraged about a lack of potential employment. The journey home was both uplifting, from all the performances we had seen, and almost depressing at the way this business is going. Wanting to perform maybe distinctly on the rise but attending shows is on the fall outside of the 'promised land' of the West End where even critically acclaimed shows such as BETTY BLUE EYES and LEND ME A TENOR for example have lasted far less time than their talented casts deserved because of poor audience numbers.

On a lighter note we did see a lot of interesting people who gave us lots of laughs and shared stories of getting to the semi-finals of 'Lithuania's Got Talent' and splitting up with boyfriends, although the two weren't linked!; tales of jobs they had done or were doing; past careers as firemen and farmers amongst other professions and, above all, a genuine excitement at being at an audition and being able to perform.

Panto Dancer Audition Day

2011-09-21T00:56:00.001-07:00

In many ways this is my favourite day of the year and in others it is definitely the worst. A favourite because it is our opportunity to allow lots of fabulous performers to show us what they can do and the worst because we have to then reject the overwhelming majority because we just don't have the available jobs to give out. Therefore it was another journey to Dance Attic and on arrival finding a number of the boys who had come for the audition already warming up in the Big Studio. As in was in my day (whenever that was) there are far fewer boys to choose from than the girls. I would guess the ratio was about twenty girls to every boy. Sallie had bought valuable assistance in the form of Nadia who performed the choreography full out whilst Sallie was suffering from her pulled calf muscle. Obviously the boys didn't take as long as we estimated the girls would and we were able to allow the huge number of girls time to warm up once the boys had cleared the studio. As I say to all the girls it is a very tough business and it is the most competitive age group of all. I just hope that even doing our audition will give them the inspiration to carry on even though for most of them the ultimate result was a rejection. As ever it is how you cope with the rejection that will decide whether you survive in this business or not. It took Sallie about two and a half hours to sort through all the many girl dancers who turned up and choose the final seven who will be working for us this coming Christmas. To those seven we say congratulations and look forward to working with you over the Christmas period. To all the very many more who we were unable to use we can only apologise that we have go other jobs to offer and hope that you will continue to strive to perform at this difficult time. Don't give up!

Robin Hood Chesterfield Kids Auditions

2011-09-19T01:08:00.001-07:00

Sunday saw a trip to Chesterfield to hold the auditions for Babes, Juveniles and Intermediate Dancers for our upcoming pantomime at the Pomegranate this year - ROBIN HOOD & THE BABES IN THE WOOD. Choreographer Sallie, who was due to be there as well, has pulled a calf muscle so, with the professional dancers auditions due on Monday, it was decided she should rest her injury prior to that and not drive to Chesterfield as well. Consequently it was Becky and I who, with our two children set off early Sunday morning to get to the theatre. Once we arrived the theatre foyer and bar were already heaving with people and that was just for the actual Babes auditions that were due to begin the day. It was a very successful day with possibly our best ever turn out for the auditions that we have ever had since we began doing the Pomegranate Pantos eight years ago. The Babes took longer than anticipated so we were already running late by the time we got to the Juveniles and they proved to be even more difficult and, as I said to the last set of about 20 before making my decision, I could have used all of them. By the time we had finally chosen the Intermediates it was nearly 4 pm but we left the theatre safe in the knowledge we have some fantastic kids and youngsters for this years pantomime. Ticket sales are already up on last year so hopefully it is going to be another bumper year. The journey home wasn't the easiest with lots of traffic and a serious accident on the M11, which we headed towards to avoid the bulk of the delays on the M1. We eventually got back to Essex around 9.30 giving me just enough time to organise things for the Professional Dancers auditions the following day.

Bugle Boy Production Photo Gallery

2011-09-16T23:20:00.000-07:00

Bugle Boy Rehearsals Through to Opening Night

2011-09-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

After a weekend without any rehearsals for BUGLE BOY it was off to Lowestoft on Monday morning to continue getting the show together. I went up on the train as I am currently minus a car as my latest lease vehicle went back after three years on Thursday. The train to Lowestoft takes an age and with a few delays, primarily at Ipswich, it was four hours from my departure point in Rayleigh to arrival in a very windy Lowestoft. The remains of Hurricane Katia apparently although Scotland and the North of England bore the brunt of the winds. I met one of the trombonists, Zeb, soon after exiting the station as it was unusual to meet someone carrying a trombone case in Lowestoft High Street. Once in the Marina Theatre, our home for the next week, the musicians were already assembled on stage for the Band Call of BUGLE BOY. I had been told by the fixer, Russell, who was also playing Double Bass on the production that the band were all very experienced with Glenn Miller. Within moments of them starting to play it was obvious that was the case as the sound was immediately exactly as I had imagined it would be, perhaps even better than I could have expected. The call, which included the cast singing along with the numbers when required at a point close to MD Colin so he could hear what they were doing, lasted until about 7.30 although there was a brief tea break at 5 for a quick bite to eat for all involved. I remember going back to my digs along the seafront from the theatre feeling satisfied that the musical element of the show was not going to be a problem at all. On the Tuesday I was in the theatre early once more in order to answer any queries that might arise from as lighting and sound point of view. Pete, the Lighting Designer, was already focussing the lights alongside the rest of the Marina Theatre crew, Karl, Mark and Tom. The cast were called at 11 to do a line run and go over any bits and pieces of choreography that needed looking at. The next two days seemed to fly by as we did lots of technical stuff on stage before getting the company to run through everything in order, positioning it all in the acting areas we had. There was one brief period of excitement for the wrong reasons when, during the Tuesday evening session the theatre fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the theatre and assemble in the street. A Fire Engine with sirens wailing caused more excitement with both genders of the cast but as it was, thankfully, a false alarm the firemen were soon on the way back to their station and the company were back on stage. They really are a lovely company who have not only gelled very quickly but are as enthusiastic about the show as everyone else seems to get once they get involved in it. There was a Photo Call on the Wednesday morning in order to get something in the local paper for Friday and the cast looked great as they all trooped into the street for the shoot. They certainly caused a stir in the nearby High Street once we made our way to there to have a picture done in front of one of the large posters that were displayed there. Geoff has, once again, done an excellent job with all the costumes etc and his attention to detail certainly added a huge amount to the overall look of the show. By the end of Wednesday we had reached the end of a ‘stagger-through’ of Act One and that was coming along very nicely. We were due to do the same with Act Two at 10 a.m. on Thursday morning but a technical problem with the video equipment caused a bit of a delay to that exercise. Consequently by the time we started, the Band were already arriving for their secondary Band Call at midday. However, after the slow start to the day things then began to move much faster and by 1.15 we were able to break everyone for lunch and aim for a full Dress Rehearsal at 2.45. The Dress Rehearsal was pretty smooth except for the beginning of Act Two where there were a few issues with the video footage and some underscoring had to be added to cover the curtain up and the subsequent film scenes. However once we were passed that stage it was all systems go and by 5.15 we were in a very good state and the sense of anticipation for the opening night was very intense. After a few notes and amendments the company went off to prepare for the first show and, almost before I could draw breath the house was open and the large first night audience were streaming into the auditorium. Pete and I took our place in the Dress Circle and waiting for the show to start. From the very first raise of the curtain and a subsequent round of applause for the band on stage the show fairly zipped along and it was obvious the audience were loving it all. In the Second Act the reaction was even stronger and by the end of the show it was obvious from the tremendous reception at the finale that BUGLE BOY is going to be a big hit. If that is the worst performance of its ‘Try-Out’ mini tour then I will be very happy indeed.

Bugle Boy Rehearsals Day Five

2011-09-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

The last rehearsal day of five at Dance Attic in London was the day set aside for Sallie, the choreographer, to stage/choreograph the remaining numbers in the piece and finally get all the blocking finished off. To that end we started the Friday rehearsal with 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' before moving on to 'What Do You Do In The Infantry' & 'Over There' before lunch. As usual, Sallie was very quick, efficient and precise, and also made all those involved in her choreography feel very comfortable with it all. After the lunch interval it didn't take long to stage 'Tail End Charlie' and get to a point where we could 'stagger through' a run of the whole show. Obviously not all the technical parts were in place and we had to move past all the actual big band stuff but the 'run' of what we currently have went very well and it certainly feels like it is all coming together. We are more or less on schedule for opening night in Lowestoft next Thursday although there is still an incredible amount of work to do on all levels before we get there. At least I left rehearsals on the Friday night feeling that we had achieved a lot and had moved a great distance down the road to the first performance. There will be obstacles to overcome in the next week, I am sure, but we are getting there and a 'work in progress' is precisely what we have at the moment. The 'run' was pretty good although Act Two was less 'together' almost by virtue of the fact we hadn't really done it in context before. However the company made their way out of the Dance Attic knowing exactly what they needed to work on and, seemingly, feeling as much excitement about putting all the other parts of the show together as I was. I was also happy that we were able to finish slightly earlier than we had done the rest of the week and the prospect of getting home before 8.30 p.m. was a satisfying one. However when I got to Liverpool Street Station it is never a good sign to find hundreds of commuters standing and staring up at the departure boards. The boards proclaimed that 'a person had been hit by a train' in the Romford area and therefore there was 'severe disruption' to all routes going through that area. Boarding a Shenfield Metro Service, as that still seemed to be more on time than any of the Southend bound services, I found myself in an extremely squashed position in a steamy carriage just as the next service towards Rayleigh was announced at a parallel platform. I surmised it was too late to join the exodus to that platform as that would have meant clambering back over a sea of humanity to get off the Shenfield bound service. The Metro service is, by virtue of the number of smaller stations it stops at, far slower than the normal train and, at times, I felt I could have walked faster. At Stratford, the first stop we came to, we played a game of "how many sardines can you get in a can?" and was amazed to find it was about twenty more than we already had, which considering we were already crammed into all available space was quite an achievement. Thankfully post-Romford the carriages did thin out of sweaty, aggressive and, in some cases, odourous people and I even found a seat. Once we were almost in spitting distance of the Shenfield destination we came to a stop and the guard pronounced "we are just waiting for a platform to come free at Shenfield". That particular speech was repeated about four times over the next twenty minutes and I was beginning to think they were having to repaint the platform before we were going to be allowed near it. Fortunately for my desire to get home before midnight, eventually, we did get into Shenfield and a Southend bound train was waiting to carry me further towards Rayleigh. On the downside it was back to a game of 'sardines' to get on to a carriage but such was everyone's apparent wish to just get home no-one voiced any complaint. I think the delays and ineptitude of the National Express East Anglia train service will be one of my most abiding memories of first BUGLE BOY rehearsal week. The walk back from the station did give me time to do a louder hum/sing of 'In The Mood' - the finale song of the show, which, I confidently predict, will have all the audiences leaving the theatre feeling totally uplifted and inspired. All in all it had been a tough, but ultimately productive, week, which had also seen THE BLACK VEIL overcome a few teething troubles to record a successful week in Stevenage and the tour of NOT NOW DARLING have a great time down in Southend at the Palace Theatre. Next week is going to be equally, if not more, busy, so it will be important to keep my wits about me and keep focussed.

Bugle Boy Rehearsals Day Four

2011-09-09T01:05:00.000-07:00

As the three year lease on my car ran out on Sunday the only day it could be collected was Thursday so I made arrangements with MD Colin for him to go over the music that hadn't been done or polished so I could stay at home to make sure the car went on its way without any problems. That doesn't mean to say it was an easier morning, as it turned out it gave me the opportunity to catch up on a mountain of e-mails that needed answering or, at least, attending to. As I had expected the car was collected late in the morning rather than the earliest time of 8 am so it was the 12.46 train that I found myself on travelling into London. Obviously at that time things were a lot quieter and the journey was less of a 'rat race' than those of the early mornings this week. Once at Dance Attic I set about blocking the dialogue in Act Two which was interspersed by singing of the relevant songs of that Act. That process went very well and by 4 pm we were in a position to have a break and then do another run of Act One minus the few bits that involved just the band and one section that Sallie is going to stage in the morning. Once again even without the band, video sequences and the lights etc there is something exciting about the show which is very encouraging at this formative stage. Ian, our Glenn Miller, a genuine American who was once told his accent was decidedly dodgy when appearing in the Musical 'Chicago' was a bit blond in the hair department. Trying out a colour to darken it involved the shade of 'Conker Brown' which had the result of making him look ginger under any lights. Today after a different attempt at a darker shade it was good to see his hair was nearer that of the late great band leader than the red head of the previous day. After a very constructive day it was time to head east on the tube back to Liverpool Street - a journey I shared to Tower Hill with Matthew aka Trigger Alpert. He is off to China on a singing contract the day after his contract with us finishes and it is inspiring to hear performers of his age talking of their next job in such excited terms. Once at Liverpool Street Station I met up with Katy who is going to be our MD on the upcoming tour of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and then PUSS IN BOOTS in Arbroath. Katy is another lady who has an almost unending passion for theatre and, in particular, Musicals and we could probably have talked for a lot longer about her future projects, dreams and aspirations. I shared another inspiring 90 minutes in conversation with her that reminded me why I do this job.
On my return home my Twitter account appeared to be red hot over an article in the Stage 'condemning' BJP for our scheme of guaranteeing bona fide performers an audition if they came to see one of our shows. Equity called it 'random and ridiculous' and the Head of Casting at the National said it was something they would never resort to and anyone who did deserved to 'lose their money'. It would appear some people saw this as a money-making exercise that was trying to exploit vulnerable actors etc who were desperate to get a job. That it most definitely wasn't as we were trying to promote a pro-active way of being 'seen' whilst showing any potential employees of ours just exactly what BJP was all about. As I had expected those who actually spent a bit of time thinking about the offer chose the very cheapest way of buying a ticket to see one of our productions. More than half of the replies we got had bought £5 Student Stand-by tickets and all of them commented they had enjoyed the production they had seen although I admit they are hardly likely to say they were rubbish when they want to work for us. However if they had actually seen one of our productions and thought this company aren't very good then they wouldn't have bothered sending their ticket stub in. The scheme was designed to encourage graduates and the 18 to 25 age group to actually go to the theatre. We get literally hundreds of CVs and photos from people seeking work and/or just an audition to prove themselves each week. It is impossible to see them all even if we wanted to so the scheme was thought up to give those who were just a bit more pro-active an opportunity to 'guarantee' we would see them in the autumn. When I do auditions, and we do more general auditions i.e those that are not for a specific role or show than most other companies, many of the auditionees admit they hardly ever go to the theatre because they are too busy or tickets are too expensive or that watching other people performing is just too frustrating for them. I can understand all these reasons as when I was starting out as a fresh faced actor all of my money went on dance classes or acting lessons or singing lessons. The last thing I thought I needed to do was go and see shows. By encouraging attendance of our shows at low cost and giving them a 'guaranteed' audition was helping those actors who are keen to do what they can to 'be seen'. At all of our auditions the vast majority of those who attend are just delighted to get an opportunity to 'perform' albeit in an audition surrounding. Some of them tell me it is almost impossible to get an audition these days and they spend their days in temp jobs desperately wanting to show someone their talents. Far from being some sort 'get rich quick' scheme it was a genuine attempt to help those thousands of performers who live each day dreaming of their big break. There isn't the amount of work out there at this current time to support probably three-quarters of the potential workforce and with Dance Colleges, Drama Schools and Universities producing numerous graduates each and every year there are sure to many more whose dreams will be shattered by lack of work. To all those who have taken up our offer of the 'guaranteed' I look forward to meeting you at the audition later this year and those who have 'condemned' our actions maybe need to look at the bigger picture. Without theatre-goers theatres will die. The West End may be thriving but many provincial theatres are not, with many councils seeing theatres as a 'soft target' in terms of any cuts in finance. So many are being offered to Trusts or, in the worst case scenarios, closed down all together. We have to promote attendance of theatre especially to the young. On many of our tours the demographic of the audience is about 90% over 40 and, if we cannot attract the under 40s, then in twenty years time the large majority of provincial Theatre will be dead. I would be interested to hear any other thoughts on the subject as it does seem to have opened up a bit of a 'hornets nest' of opinion.

Bugle Boy Rehearsals Day Three

2011-09-08T05:18:00.001-07:00

Things are really coming together with BUGLE BOY and by the end of Day Three we had blocked almost all of Act One and the singing of the numbers was a great sound. The company are really working well together and I can confidently predict its going to be a terrific show. I am really looking forward to hearing the band on Monday when the numbers will really start to take off. It was a very autumnal day with wind and rain which is, at least, good for Theatre and the Box Offices at Southend's Palace Theatre for NOT NOW DARLING and at Stevenage's Gordon Craig Theatre where THE BLACK VEIL was opening. There were a few problems in Stevenage where two pieces of masking didn't arrive with the set. Fortunately Chris, who was on THE BLACK VEIL the last time it was out, had gone over to the venue from his current position on NOT NOW DARLING to assist with the Get In and he was able to sort it out with the help of the Gordon Craig crew. In the end Chris was a bit late in getting back to Southend but Alex and Hannah (the two ASM's) took control and all was fine for another very funny performance of the farce.

Bugle Boy Rehearsals Day Two

2011-09-07T01:02:00.001-07:00

Another very busy day and the difficulties of getting a Musical on in a short space of time, and particularly one that is still evolving, really came to the fore. On the musical side things are progressing extremely well as we have assembled a great cast and Colin, our Musical Director, is already getting some great sounds out of them all. We spent the morning going through the whole script, piece by piece, so everyone had a better idea of how things fitted together and making sure everything worked before wasting any time on anything that didn't. That was a very productive part of the day and everyone, including me, did feel more clear about it all by the end of the process. After the lunch interval Colin spent the afternoon going through all the harmonies of all the ensemble songs and all the solo numbers as these need to be spot on as soon as possible because of the content of the show.
It was another very constructive afternoon and you cannot help but be uplifted by all the excellent music contained in the piece. Away from the music things were proving a little more difficult and Production Manager Geoff was encountering no end of problems in trying to get stuff organised. However knowing Geoff as I do he will spend every waking hour between now and next Thursdays opening night making sure that everything is ready. It is very important to have people like Geoff on the show.

Bugle Boy Rehearsals Day One

2011-09-06T01:01:00.000-07:00

The start of a new week and another very busy one at that. It was the first day of rehearsals for BUGLE BOY our Musical about the life story of Glenn Miller. With a whole load of costumes and a suitcase full of Band parts the only way in was by car so, predicting the traffic on a Monday morning would be tricky I set off very early in my 'courtesy' Ka roller skate with dodgy brakes. The M4 and M40 which I migh have utilised to get to Fulham Broadway were both stricken with accidents so I decided to 'bite the bullet' and head for the heart of the capital. Naïve is probably the word I will remember that decision with as almost three hours later I finally managed to park up around the corner from Dance Attic. I met up with Colin, the Musical Director, and managed to go through the Music involved before the cast arrived at 10 am. Geoff, the Production & Company Manager sorted through the costumes with the cast before we embarked on trying to sort through the Musical numbers. As this is a Musical with known songs as opposed to one with original music then the cast did have a good idea of the majority of the numbers before we started. However there are a lot of harmonies for the cast to get to grips with as well which, when you have a pretty good idea of the melody line before you start can be more difficult. However we have assembled a very talented cast which also includes Four Actor/Musicians who, when they weren't singing were off in various spaces going through the band pads of their various instrumental lines. Although it was a long day it was a very productive one and I found myself heading back to the car, now moved to the Multi-Storey Car Park near Chelsea Football ground, humming and singing lots of great Glenn Miller tunes and songs. It is certainly going to be a fabulous sound. Back in the car my naivete grew to new limits as, rather than go back the way I came I thought I would head west towards the M25. How wrong that manoeuvre turned out to be as there were 90 minute delays in both directions for various accidents. Therefore the little Dodgem better known as the Ka had to take me on a lengthy detour through the Hertfordshire and Essex countryside. It had been my intention to get to see the performance of NOT NOW DARLING which was opening at the Palace Theatre in Southend that night. However it was just past the interval when I eventually got there. The cast of that particular play were in good spirits although some were confessing to be slightly disconcerted by the steep rake of the Theatre stage. The farce got a great reception at the end and with ticket sales for all the performances this week looking very healthy it looks like it should be a great week. Finally, on a day when it felt like lots of things were happening, we also had a rehearsal at the Palace for THE BLACK VEIL which has a date at Stevenage this week opening on Wednesday and then two days at Swindon Wyvern next week. Andrew and Nick were there alongside another Jennifer who was taking over in the role of 'The Woman'. By all accounts that rehearsal also went well and they will be back at the Palace for another rehearsal day in the morning. After getting up at 5 to get to London I didn't actually get home until after 11 so it was a long day. However it was one that definitely got me 'In The Mood' - pun intended!

A Day Trip To Scotland

2011-09-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

In a week which also saw two journeys down to the Connaught Theatre in Worthing I also had to do a 'day trip' to Scotland for the Press Launch of our pantomime PUSS IN BOOTS at the Webster Theatre in Arbroath. Because of my Mum's continued presence in Southend's University Hospital and other meetings on Wednesday afternoon and evening, I ended up having to drive from Luton, the venue of the last of those meetings, through the night to North-east Scotland. At least there wasn't a great deal of traffic on the roads and that allowed fairly smooth progress northwards as well as giving me a few hours to play with in order to get some sleep at least. It is amazing how the body can cope at such times and even with minimal sleep I was able to arrive at the Webster Theatre about an hour before the agreed meeting time of 10 a.m. Apparently I didn't look bad after the overnight drive but that wasn't quite how I felt. However 'Doctor Theatre' did its work and by the time Edward Reid, Gordon ["call me Gordie"] Brandie and local Radio DJ Graeme Waggott arrived on the Thursday morning I was feeling a lot brighter. Edward Reid, who was a big success on BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT earlier this year with his Nursery Rhymes set to Leona Lewis rendition, is playing our Dame this year; with Gordie as 'Donald the Daftie' - that will be the comic then and Graeme as 'the King'. They were all lovely people and, as I eventually left the venue some hours later, I was really looking forward to returning at Xmas to get the show up and running. There were photo opportunities for the local Press at the Launch which went very well and Edward did his 'audition' piece from the hit ITV show near the end, which was also very well received by the assembled audience. Graeme had to shoot off quite quickly as he had come directly from his morning radio show, so he went first in the taking of the other photos I needed to get the poster sorted out. After saying goodbye to the trio of cast members, I had a Pantomime Production Meeting with Audrey and Patricia to sort out all the other details for the show. As Arbroath is a very long way from Essex, it is important to take as much opportunity as possible to deal with things face to face rather than over the phone. It was a very productive meeting [no pun intended] and was accompanied by a lunch provided, albeit indirectly, by Angus Council, although we did have a bit of a 'Chuckle Brothers' moment when we couldn't get the lid off the tray of sandwiches! Satisfied that we had gone through Patricia's agenda list as thoroughly as we could, I collected all the costumes etc together and headed back towards the A92 and the long journey home. It didn't take long before the body decided it had had quite enough of the staggered sleep and I found myself stopping again at Stirling Services, about eight hours after I had parked up there on the outward trip. After the deserted motorway network of overnight, the picture couldn't have been more different on the way back. An accident and associated fuel spillage just south of Carlisle on the M6 was the first major delay of about 45 minutes. After a food stop at Killington Lake Services I had to take two sleep breaks at Sandbach and Keele, which was slightly concerning as they are only about twelve miles apart. I wondered if I would have to stop at every Service station which really would delay my return home. However, shortly after leaving Keele, I found roadworks had closed the M6 southbound and I had to make a detour through and around the centre of Stafford, which had the effect of focussing my mind a bit more away from the wide open lanes of the motorway. After rejoining the M6, the gantry signs began to warn of an M1 closure as well and I was beginning to think I was never going to get home. Avoiding the M1 completely I headed towards the M11 via the A14, probably the worst road in the country for accidents and incidents. The Services and Lay-bys on the A14 weren't particularly enticing in terms of areas to sleep, so I kept going until I reached Cambridge Services. I decided to top up my food intake by visiting the only open outlet on the site, the namesake of which is 'old' and has a 'farm'. The company in question pride themselves on 'fast food' but I left them, purchase in hand, wondering how long they would take to get a chicken in a bun if they had been busy! The lengthy wait did wake me up sufficiently to allow me to carry on with the journey without another sleep in the car. Finally, at 4.40 a.m. as the birds began to clear their throats for the dawn chorus, I backed the car into the drive and turned off the engine. A total of 22 hours in the car out of the last 30 was the final analysis of the 'day trip to Scotland'. As I rolled into bed I realised that my car was due to go into the paint shop at 9 that morning to have a small dent and scratch repaired before its lease ends next Thursday. Therefore it was another brief sleep before I was up again to sort out the costume-laden car before it disappeared for the weekend. Fortunately, if that is the right word, the Body Shop in question provided me with a courtesy car, although the much scratched 54 plate KA they provided was a bit like driving a Dodgem with no brakes. "They don't really look after them", the driver who brought it commented. The drive to Worthing for the last night of NOT NOW DARLING on Saturday, was 'entertaining' to say the least and once Damian Williams was in the car too I had to remember the stopping distance might be a bit longer than my normal car and not get too close to things!

Jungle Book Worthing

2011-08-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

The final production of a very busy week was THE JUNGLE BOOK which took place at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing. Fortunately we didn't encounter the 'riots' of the previous Croydon week. With the local children rehearsing from the Monday morning alongside the adult professional cast it was a much more relaxed time and a very happy week was shared by all. Once again the shows were well attended with the 'great' British summer helping the audience numbers by being distinctly autumnal throughout. Having said that the cast were still very warm during the shows in the thick fur costumes and were very grateful that it wasn't hotter outside the theatre. Apart from the van delivering the set on the Wednesday doing its best to demolish the lights outside the theatre front it was a fairly uneventful week outside of the shows themselves. We have to thank the youngsters, the chaperones, and the excellent company for just getting on with things, even though compared to the Croydon week it was all so much calmer. The pictures herewith are of the photo call on the Thursday between shows when the local evening paper, the Argus, sent a long a photographer to promote the production.

Junior Summer School - Weston-Super-Mare

2011-08-29T04:05:00.001-07:00

Throughout last week too it was the Junior Summer School at the Playhouse Theatre in Weston-Super-Mare. The school, based on a wealth of great Musicals past and present and called MUSICAL MAGIC, was a great success and was, once again, created, directed and choreographed by Debra James. She was aided and assisted by Paul Woolley, the Musical Director, and Abbie Elkins, who were both very important to the final show, which, as usual, was held on Saturday morning. This was done in front of the NOT NOW DARLING set, the extra space being created by raising the orchestra pit to the height of the stage. Debra had nothing but praise for the enthusiasm and behaviour of all the kids involved and the show was very well received by all that saw it on the Saturday. After the early morning Dress Rehearsal all of the children seemed to be having a fantastic time and it was very satisfying to see them enjoying the experience so much. We would like to thank everyone who was involved in the school including Matthew, the theatre manager, the crew, the FRont of House staff, the chpaerones and, of course, all the very talented and extremely polite children, who were a joy to teach and be around for the week.

Not Now Darling Opening Night

2011-08-29T03:13:00.000-07:00

It has been an almost ridiculously busy week with two shows to get on and a great number of other things to organise for the upcoming three weeks. Last Wednesday evening saw the opening night of our touring farce NOT NOW DARLING written by Ray Cooney and John Chapman. This took place at the Playhouse Theatre in Weston-Super-Mare and, after another day of rehearsals in Southend on the Monday, we moved down to North Somerset on the Tuesday. By that point we were fast approaching that "just needs an audience" stage and after the Tuesday evening Technical rehearsal everybody seemed quite excited about the opening and there were only a few minor details to sort out. The Wednesday saw a line-run of Act One first of all, followed by a completion of the Technical Rehearsal and the last twelve pages which we had left the previous evening. Before we knew it the audience was arriving for the first performance and the sense of anticipation was really mounting backstage. As with most comedies, and most definitely farces, the audience reaction changes everything and it is only after performing in front of people that the whole thing comes alive. It is only then that you really find out what works and what doesn't. This particular farce takes place in a fur salon and, obviously, in 2011, there is a very different mindset towards such establishments. Therefore the piece has to be done in its original time, i.e. 1969, when buying a £5,000 mink coat for your 'girlfriend' would have been a possibility. Farces can sometimes date but as the Bristol Evening Post noted in their review NOT NOW DARLING is a "Good vintage farce still going strong today". You can read the full review at this link: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Good-vintage-farce-going-strong-today/story-13207004-detail/story.html The performance itself was a big success and as Damian Williams commented after it "I shall enjoy touring it now". Since that point we have done four more performances and the whole thing has really evolved since that initial show as everyone gets more confidence in it all and we find out exactly where all the laughs are. The tour has now left Weston-Super-Mare where we say a massive 'Thank You' to all the crew and Front of House Staff who helped us so much during the week and, as always, made us so welcome. It is now on to the Connaught Theatre in Worthing on Tuesday night.

Not Now Darling Rehearsals Update

2011-08-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

We have now done five days of rehearsals and all is going well. After two more days in Southend we were actually in Rayleigh today as the normal hall was preparing for a wedding reception on Saturday. Therefore we give grateful thanks to everyone at Masters Performing Arts College [ http://www.mastersperformingarts.co.uk/ ] for their hospitality on Friday. Over the past three days we have managed to do two complete runs of Act One, which has got better each time and we are well advanced with Act Two as well. With a weekend for the cast to have time to consolidate those lines that seemed to have gone in and to learn those lines that still seem very alien, by Monday morning when we re-convene in Southend I am sure the whole thing will be very close to being ready, in terms of lines at any rate. At the moment, after today's rehearsal we are about ten pages from the end of the farce so well on schedule. The company are definitely binding together into a very happy 'family' who all seem to get along with each other. It has been a very enjoyable week with them all and hopefully as we get towards the possibly more stress-free days leading up to opening night next Wednesday that will continue. You can never be absolutely sure how people will react as things get more intense but I have a feeling the group doing NOT NOW DARLING will be fairly relaxed. One thing that is certain is that the farce is going to be very, very funny with Damian Williams on top form and an extremely strong cast to make sure the production is full of laughs.

Not Now Darling Rehearsals Day Two

2011-08-16T14:34:00.001-07:00

A good day in NOT NOW DARLING rehearsals land where we started from the beginning of the play and started to get it to a performance standard. With short rehearsal periods you are always trying to keep things moving along as quickly and efficiently as possible and, although you are also helping the actors to get their lines completely under their belt, each time you go back over each section you can see what is working and what isn't. We were in the smaller rehearsal space of the church today, which is not as easy to use with a big cast but we managed OK and by the end of the day we were right on the schedule I had set. It is also important not to go too far too fast as that only lessens any confidence some people may have in knowing their lines. Once people start picking their scripts up again and giving you a reading, it is time to go back to the beginning and do parts they know, so those lines will be consolidated. There is not a lot of point in just having the actors read the play to you unless you are trying to make sure the moves and directions are right or that they work as well as you would like. All in all it was a very positive day and the company really seem to be gelling into a very friendly group. The contract should always be enjoyable and the more laughs you can hear during the rehearsals the better as it means there is no tension and concern about lines and getting the play ready. Debbie was also in today sorting out the costumes for the cast, which is slightly more difficult than some we have done as it is being performed as period late 1960s. By the end of the day Debbie had sorted out about 90% of what is required and, as she will also be in Weston-Super-Mare next week with our Junior Summer School, she will be able to put the finishing touches to it all as required.

Not Now Darling Rehearsals Day One

2011-08-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

Back in Southend this week and back to a large cast farce in NOT NOW DARLING written by two masters of the genre in Ray Cooney and John Chapman. It was good to get back to rehearsing something new and I definitely think Damian Williams enjoyed the fact he had a few more company members to interact with after his recent one-man show. There are many 'old' faces in the production in the form of Damian, of course, plus Ben, Sarah, Richard, Philip, Alex, Steph and Chris, all of whom have worked for BJP before at some time or another. The other four members of the cast, all girls, were new to us so it was a morning of introductions first of all and welcoming Grace, Holly, Jessica and Hannah to the world of BJP farce. It was actually a very sunny and, consequently, warm day and the rehearsal room, which can resemble a greenhouse on such days, needed all the doors open and the fan on to keep it cool. The first job after tea, coffee, biscuits and getting to one another, either again or for the first time, I spent the rest of the morning blocking the first half of the play. With so much eventual business involved in a farce I like to get a skeletal shape to it all first by blocking it roughly so you can then go back and 'flesh' it all out from Day Two. It is a method I have always used with farces and it also means you don't get bogged down with things near the beginning of the play when the vast majority of the action parts of the farce will be later on. After a lunch when all the company went off pretty muchy together, which was a good sign, I managed to block all 125 pages by about 4 p.m. although it is not the speed of doing it that is important; it is just having a shape you can adjust and improve as you rehearse during the week. I predict it is going to be another very enjoyable rehearsal week full of laughs and fun. In fact nothing like work at all really - just the way I like it.

You can follow quite a few of the cast on Twitter as well as BJP on www.twitter.com/brucejamesprods. Try following djwilliamsact, ben_roddy, alexnewbold, MissEasterbrook, philipmeeks, thatStephParry & HannahjDeakin

Yeovil Senior Summer School

2011-08-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

Away from the disturbances in Croydon last week we enjoyed a great week with the youngsters who did the Senior Summer School at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil. The theme for this year's 'Build a Mini-Musical' project was TWELFTH NIGHT FEVER which probably doesn't need much explanation when told that it is adapted from a Shakespearean play and based in a Seventies Nightclub. Debbie did a great job with the adaptation and choice of songs and then proceeded to direct and choreograph the assembled company in a show they looked like they really enjoyed performing. The older age group is obviously easier to keep control of as the overwhelming majority of them were there because they wanted to be and had chosen to do the Summer School. You always get those children in the Junior one who are perhaps being 'told' they are doing it and where some parents see it as a cheaper form of 'child-minding' than sending their child somewhere else during the holidays. The two 'free' shows were well attended although the second had slightly more in the audience and there was a definite buzz from the cast after both shows. It was very satisfying to see the great set of youngsters getting so much out of the week. It is also slightly frustrating that so many of the talented ones we see will never get a chance to perform as a career, as theatres get closed and production companies seem to cut their productions down in terms of cast size and/or length of contract. It is a tough time to want to be an actress, a singer or a dancer.

Riots in the Jungle

2011-08-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

After a very hectic week, it may come as no surprise that I haven't had time to update the Blog until now. After a first rehearsal on Sunday in the Arnhem Gallery of the Fairfield Halls Complex in Croydon for our production of THE JUNGLE BOOK I left the company of that show, with the dialogue all blocked, and headed back to Yeovil for the second of our two Summer Schools. The first day of that went well, but, by the afternoon, there were already rumblings of unrest in the capital after a night of riots and disturbances in the Tottenham area over the weekend. By the time I left the Octagon Theatre for the night both Chris, the Company Manager, and Lorinda, who was acting as Choreographer and Assistant Director on the Croydon show, had been on the phone alerting me to the fact that the police had already been into the theatre and advised the company and crew to evacuate the building as soon as possible. Apparently the 'riots' were as close as a mile away and, although the Fairfield Halls Complex is not right in the town centre, it is close enough to be targeted if things got completely out of hand. Obviously my advice was to heed that police direction and get out of the area. Switching on to Sky News, I was relieved, in some ways, to see that the apparent trouble in Croydon wasn't being reported although there were pictures of other serious disturbances in Hackney and Lewisham. However, shortly after a confirmation phone call from Chris saying the company had all got away from the theatre, the television pictures changed to those of the 'Sky Copter' which appeared to show various parts of the Croydon area engulfed in flames. Although I didn't know it at the time, the majority of these fires were in West Croydon, indeed about a mile from the Fairfield Halls. I remember thinking "of all the places this could be happening it has to be right on the doorstep of a theatre where I have a show later this week". "That should be good of business", I think I may have continued my thought process. The safety of the company and staff at the theatre was far more important and, as I was told later, the smell of burning and the constant sirens wailing, alongside many shouts and screams made for a terrifying scene outside. It is obviously not for us to debate why this was going on but such lawlessness helps no-one and you have to feel a huge amount of sympathy for all those who were far closer to the 'riots' than we were and whose business, livelihood and home life was ruined by the actions of a very small minority. I was shocked and saddened by all the events that I witnessed but, in my book, these weren't 'riots' in the true sense of the word. On my eventual trip back to Croydon on Wednesday night I travelled through various streets which had shop windows boarded up. However these shops weren't all vandalised as happened in the 'Poll Tax Riots' back in the 90s when everything that had a window was completely trashed. In this instance I passed an electronics shop, a music shop and a bike shop all seemingly heavily damaged, with various other shops and, in once case, a glass fronted Pizza Express all untouched. That meant the 'targets' for 'attack' were far more selective than in a 'riot' so that has to be plain and simple robbery or 'looting' as the various media liked to call it.

The rehearsals for THE JUNGLE BOOK were curtailed on the Tuesday night as well, when the 'riots' actually migrated to Manchester, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Nottingham, Leicester and Gloucester amongst other places. 'Caution' was very much the watch-word by that point and the events of Monday night had understandably un-nerved many of the company and theatre staff. On reflection, we only lost one of our fourteen children, whose parents made the decision that Croydon was not a place that they wanted their daughter to be travelling to after the 'riots'. There can be no reproach for such a decision as, being a parent myself, your offspring's safety is paramount. The rest of the company deserve a huge amount of credit for keeping everything going and not allowing the very worrying events and subsequent rumours of further violence to stop the show going on. By Thursday we were in a position to get the show up and running and, thankfully, things has quietened down and some semblance of normality had been regained, although as I turned into the road outside the Fairfield Halls Complex on Wednesday evening there were no less than a dozen police vans lined up just along from my eventual car park position, which was a little concerning.

We will never know exactly how our 'business' was affected by the 'riots' in Croydon but it may have put off some people travelling to the Ashcroft Theatre because of the events they had seen on Monday night. The photo above shows the most vivid picture of the troubles in Croydon; a furniture shop, which had been established on the same spot for over 140 years and had the 'Reeves Corner' it stood on named after it. It was razed to the ground on that Monday night alongside almost a whole street attached to it. We have to hope that such nights of trouble are not repeated in the coming months not only because it is bad for business but because I don't think anyone wants to live in a society where you are too scared to go out after dark for fear of attack or running into an anarchic mob hellbent on looting any shop they can get access to.

I would like to thank all the JUNGLE BOOK company, the staff and crew at the Fairfield Halls and the chaperones, children and parents for their devotion to duty in the face of supreme pressure over the rehearsal period. We also pay tribute to the audiences, who came in many numbers, to see the production and showed that they weren't going to allow the events in Croydon of Monday night affect their lives.

Yeovil Junior Summer School 2011

2011-08-06T16:03:00.000-07:00

Junior Summer School at Yeovil's Octagon Theatre has come and gone for another year and, even by past standards, this one seemed to zip by in the twinkling of an eye. The subject, HICKORY DICKORY ROCK was one of the older of Debbie's scripts, having been originally done in 1998 and last time in 2002. Therefore a fair few of this year's number of 7 to 11 year olds weren't even born when it made its last appearance in Summer School. They were a great bunch of kids who really got into the whole thing and by the time we got to the performance day on Friday it was obvious they were very excited about doing the show. As usual Danny and the crew had done a great job transforming the stage into a makeshift set for the mini-Musical and, although it was simple, it was extremely effective and the kids were very happy with it all. With Rob, the long-time Technical Manager of the Octagon, overseeing everything, Catherine did the lighting, 'Casual' Dave was on the sound and Danny was on stage, with a fine line in smoking cauldrons. Andy, who will be involved in our production of THE JUNGLE BOOK at Croydon next week, came over from Weston on the Friday to assist Musical Director Matt with the music for the show. The new 'Health & Safety' netting over the orchestra pit caused a few problems getting the musicians into their position which slowed things down on the Friday morning but eventually we managed to get a full Tech Rehearsal complete with lights, radio mikes and props during the morning. A full Dress Rehearsal followed after lunch which caused even more excitement amongst the young cast and by 4 p.m. there was an expectant air about everything as the audience approached. It was pleasing to see so many friends, family members, and some just curious to see the kids in action, supporting the two performances and the kids did themselves, and all of us involved in the creative element of it all, very proud.

All in all it was a very good and satisfying week which, I think, all those who took part in it, enjoyed a lot and will have taken a lot out of. Then it was a drive home to Essex to prepare for the start of THE JUNGLE BOOK at Croydon on Sunday and then back to Yeovil for Senior Summer School - TWELFTH NIGHT FEVER - that starts on Monday morning.

Audition Days

2011-08-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

The last three days of last week were filled with three audition days for three of our next productions, namely THE JUNGLE BOOK, NOT NOW DARLING and BUGLE BOY - THE LIFE STORY OF GLENN MILLER. Our casting briefs put up on the Spotlight Link had given us about 1,300 submissions for the parts available and that, in itself, meant a great deal of time had to be spent sifting through them all to narrow them down to a number that could be seen. Once that had been down it was a case of phoning around all the agents and, in some cases, calling the artist direct to arrange the auditions themselves. As usual there were the ones that weren't now available or where the artists had neglected to tell their agent they were off on holiday this week, but eventually we managed to fill all three days with potential auditionees.

The three days themselves were held at Dance Attic where, as always, Andrew and his staff were very helpful and hospitable. On the first day the large studio was full of auditions too although they were a bit louder than ours and LMFAO's 'Party Rock Anthem' was blasting out from it for most of the day. It was difficult to try and be oblivious to it but Ben, helping out, was caught up in the music several times. "I just can't help myself", he said as he did a bit of 'Shuffling' although, thankfully, not during an actual audition.
It was good to meet so many talented people but it did bring to the forefront of my mind again the fact that there are far too many people out of work and just too few jobs to support them all. It is the time of year when we get a deluge of graduates CVs and photos from all sorts of Drama Schools, Dance and Performing Arts Colleges and Universities. It is all very well the education system being geared to producing lots of supremely talented graduates but if there is no work what will happen to them when they need to earn a living. Some people have suggested to me that there is no money to be made in producing and with the gamble that is to be found in doing this particular career I sometimes wake up and think they are right. I have been told the best thing to do would be to teach drama because "that's where the money is". However if BJP stops producing then that will be another avenue of work that has disappeared and where does that leave this 'business'. Of all those 1,300 submissions that we received I would guess that well over 75% of them will struggle to find any satisfying work in the next twelve months which is, not only sad, but a definite endictment to how far things have come since the recession started and the cuts to the Arts began to kick in. Something has to change or we will just end up producing graduates and a whole horde of fantastically talented performers who will never be able to do what they love and have spent years training to do.
There were also a number of 'no-shows', which is one of my most hated parts of auditions, especially those who make absolutely no attempt to let us know why they couldn't attend. These people, and the men are by far the worst culprits of this, not only waste our time but also deprive others, who are normally desperate just to get an audition, from having an opportunity. I am certainly not saying that auditioning for BJP is the "be all and end all" of theatre but if you are an actor, singer, dancer, performer etc then just having a day when you get up and go and show someone what you can do is a far better day than one that is just filled with nothing performance related.

My Dogs Got No Nose in Middlesbrough

2011-07-14T04:55:00.000-07:00

The last two days of the tour of MY DOG'S GOT NO NOSE saw the production at its most northerly venue at the Middlesbrough Theatre. With Chris having been CSM on both this play and THE BLACK VEIL, it was decided he would go back to the thriller in Croydon and I would put my CSM/DSM/ASM hats on for the two days with the comedy. That meant an early start on the trip from Essex, collecting Damian on the way and heading north at around 4.30 a.m. There wasn't a great deal of traffic at that time of the day so we made good time eventually stopping at Colsterworth Services around 7 a.m. Unfortunately that particular service station didn't score very highly on the 'coffee count' for Damian, and with a small shop as well that wasn't that well stocked either, we were very soon back in the car and driving back up the A1. As the Get-in wasn't due to start until 11 a.m. we still had plenty of time to waste so we stopped again, this time at Ferrybridge Services which also 'services' the M62. This service station had a Costa Coffee outlet, which is not Damian's favourite, but, in his words is certainly better than 'Coffee Nation' and 'Cafe Amore' that we passed on the way. "Their coffee tastes like @*&#" was his unbiased review as he rejected my suggestions to stop and sample their wares. However after visiting M&S to buy some of their 'simply food', Damian came back from Costa still coffee-less. "£3 for a coffee!", he said, "It's only £2.20 normally" and so Costa were denied another sale. "I will wait till we get there and find one then", Damian continued showing an actor's personlaity trait for getting value for money! After arriving at the theatre and seeing everything had started satisfactorily, Damian did, indeed, head off into Middlesbrough itself to find his one-night digs and some much needed coffee from his favourite Starbucks. The Get-in and Fit-up went very smoothly even though I hadn't done it before. Chris, and previously Geoff, had left lots of information, notes and diagrams to assist the lighting focussing and plotting and, by 1.30, I was able to thank the crew of Chris and Pete for their invaluable assistance and head off for lunch. After ironing Damian shirts, which made me realise the true glamour of being a theatre producer, and a long catch up conversation with David, the theatre manager, it was almost time for the first "Half Hour Call". The show itself went very well and the audience all seemed to enjoy it by the strength of their rapturous applause at the curtain call. It was a long day but ultimately an enjoyable and memorable one. Two more shows tomorrow and then the tour will be finished, although the play is doing one-night at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield as part of the 'Grin Up North' Sheffield Comedy Festival on Monday October 10th.

The Black Veil Revisited

2011-07-14T04:29:00.000-07:00

THE BLACK VEIL reopened in Croydon this Tuesday and is playing at the Ashcroft Theatre for the rest of the week before heading to Middlesbrough Theatre for Thursday to Saturday next week. As Jen, who played the role of 'The Woman' was unavailable for these two dates, she was replaced by Casey, who played the part for one week in Southend last September. Therefore even though it was nearly ten months since she had done the play she did have a knowledge of it and the moves. With that in mind we settled for just the one day of rehearsal in Southend together with the other two members of the cast - Nick and Andrew. That day went very well and it was obvious Casey had been able to recollect all of what she had done before and although there were a few changes in the production since last autumn it didn't take long to get those sorted out as well. On the Tuesday the company headed to Croydon for a line run at 1.30 after Nick had an audition for 'Dame' in panto this coming Xmas. Andrew, who is a 'veteran' of many years playing Dame did offer Nick a bit of advice for playing 'Dame', something Nick hadn't done before although he had done a stint as 'Ugly Sister' previously. "Just be yourself in a dress and always look delighted" were amongst his words of wisdom. Whether Nick took any of the advice on board I don't knwo but, apparently, the audition went well. After Chris [CSM] and Rob [ASM] had finished all the Fit-up, Lights and Sound Checks and setting all the props etc we eventually did a Dress Tech of the parts Casey is involved in which is the whole of Act One and the majority of Act Two. One of the most important parts of the production is the 'veil' as it is always difficult for the actress wearing it to gauge exactly how loud they need to be to ensure the audience can hear what she is saying. There is always a fine line between projection and shouting in this case. I went into the auditorium and confirmed that all was well from a sound level. We finished the rehearsal about 6.45 which was just enough time to get things back together before the first Croydon performance at 7.30 that night. With an early morning start to get to Middlesbrough the next day I made sure the show went up all right and then headed home.

A Late Room in a Hotel From Hell

2011-07-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

MY DOG'S GOT NO NOSE, a comedy that continues to receive excellent reaction wherever it plays, arrived at the beautiful Devonshire Park Theatre in Easstbourne today. The most notable part of the day, apart from a very good performance this evening in front of another hugely appreciative audience, was a saga of Damian Williams' digs. Being a seaside town which attracts many for their retirement because of its flat terrain, Eastbourne has many B & B's and Hotels. Damian confessed he had left it a bit late to organise somewhere to stay for the two nights he needed and ended up booking something through LateRooms.com. The moral of the story that unfolded was "that before you confirm your booking it is always best to read the feedback on the LateRooms website". The particular hotel in question, which I won't name for fear of a court case, had almost universally bad comments from those who had stayed there previously, ranging from "I would never stay there again" through to "Without doubt the worst hotel I have ever stayed in" or words to that effect. Once in the car en route to the East Sussex coast, Damian was already thinking he had made a terrible mistake but even then he was resigned to at least "giving them the benefit of the doubt". On our arrival in a showery Eastbourne we checked into the theatre and, whilst I went into the town centre, Damian went off in search of his dubious hotel. On his return from his 'adventure' some 90 minutes later he still had his suitcase with him and dumped it back in his dressing room with a "I have nowhere to stay" statement. He then related that the previous comments left on LateRooms were nearer to the truth than he had wanted to believe. On his arrival there were several elderly women at the reception all in various stages of complaint that ranged from "But my sea view appears to be looking at just a wall" to "Why is my sink not in the bathroom at all?" to "We have been upstairs to our room [for the first time] and the bed isn't made and there is cardboard and paper all over the floor". Damian confessed the signs weren't good at that point and they didn't improve when the proprietors couldn't find his allocated room key. That might not have been quite so odd except that it appeared a few of the other people crowded around reception were also waiting for keys to their proposed rooms. Eventually Damian was giving a key and pointed towards a room upstairs. Things went further into 'Fawlty Towers' territory when, on entering the room with the key he had been given, a man's voice called out "Who's that? What do you want?". Damian said he was suitably embarrassed about entering an apparently occupied room and found himself asking the voice "Are you in here then?". A fairly obvious "Yes" later, and Damian made a speedy exit and went hastily back to reception. The scene downstairs was even more chaotic so, although expecting Harry Hill or a remnant from Candid Camera to pop out and tell him it was all a big joke for a TV programme, Damian told them in no uncertain terms he wasn't staying there and could he have back the money he had paid by card on arrival. The owners said he could and they would deal with it, but on leaving the 'Hotel from Hell' he did put a call into LateRooms to complain about the hotel on their list, and they told him they would ensure the hotel had, indeed, repaid his money. It does sound as if this particular hotel doesn't get a huge amount of visitors re-booking and if you ever stay in Eastbourne it might be best to first check any feedback that might be posted online about it. As it turned out Damian ended up resorting to a more tried and tested method of finding theatrical accommodation by phoning a place listed on the Theatre Digs List; a B & B about three minutes walk from the Devonshire Park Theatre and far more civilised and welcoming.

I Met A Man Isn't There Any More

2011-07-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

Our tour of the thriller I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE by Philip Meeks finished its last performance on Saturday at Darlington's Civic Theatre. It was a very successful tour, although it may well be remembered for a few problems it had to overcome, from the ill health of the original male lead, Philip Madoc, who was triumphantly replaced by Brian Capron; to the remarkable and resilient Cathy Shipton, who spent the rehearsal period on a crutch nursing a replacement hip operation and had to do the play with four different actors over the run; to the male understudy James breaking his foot at Weston Playhouse and having to endure some crutch work as well. There were a few other sound and video gremlins, most notably in Croydon where the sound wouldn't run through their new digital system and on the Friday night in Darlington when it wouldn't play through front of house and led to the curtain being held for 25 minutes. I think Geoff, the Company Manager was becoming to think the 'spirits' of the production were fighting back at times. We would like to thank Brian and Cathy for their excellent performances; their agents Anna Dudley at Markham, Froggatt & Irwin and Michael Cronin at International Artistes for their help, assistance and understanding; Geoff for his efficiency, hard work and the fabulous set and lighting designs; James and Susan for their Understudying and, in James case, actually going on - something that, at the start of the tour it was expected Susan might be the more likely to get a chance to do, given Cathy's recovery from her very major operation; their agents Amanda Andrews and Richard Kort. Thanks also go to Andy at Channel Zero for his super sound design; Chris at All Media Works for the video sequences and to Tim and Nancy Leake for their time in recording them all and Paul and Steve who did the transport for us all round the tour. We also need to thank both Philips who were involved in the production; Mr. Meeks for his excellent script and support all the way through the tour and Mr.Madoc, who sadly had to pull out of the tour after the first playing week at Chesterfield - we wish him well.

Jungle Book Croydon - Kids Auditions

2011-06-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, at the height of the mini-heatwave and temperatures touching 90F, I was at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon conducting auditions again. This time it was for THE JUNGLE BOOK at the Ashcroft Theatre in early August. The auditions themselves were held in another part of the venue called the Arnhem Gallery, which was a large space with a dance floor in the middle and chairs up and down the sides. On such a hot day, the best part of the space was its air conditioning that, on such a hot day, was a much needed asset. There was a good turn-out for the auditions, especially given the fact that it was such a sunny and stiflingly hot day. Once all those who wanted to audition had entered the hall, I did my normal audition speech, during which one boy did his chances of getting in no good at all by spending the whole thing playing on his BlackBerry mobile. It never ceases to amaze me how some children think they are going to get through an audition with some of the things they do. The audition starts from the moment they come in, not when they start dancing, singing or acting. Even if he had been the most fantastic dancer etc I doubt I would have been able to use him, as ill-discipline, when you have such a short rehearsal period, is of little use to anyone. As it turned out, whilst one of the other groups were dancing, he was having a conversation on his phone in full view of everyone else. It was no surprise that he was exiting the space, with the rest of the disappointed first round children, about forty-five minutes later. Once I had narrowed the selection down, it was time for the singing. We had a few who weren't prepared to sing on their own which didn't obviously help their cause, although I can sometimes forgive this if they are really good dancers in a piece like THE JUNGLE BOOK where there is no solo singing. However if you have a confident child who sings well, against a child who is too nervous or shy to even sing on his or her own then it is obviously the former that has more chance of being chosen. It took about 90 minutes to get to the final selection which, as with the Worthing auditions two weeks ago, consisted of six taller and eight smaller children. There were the usual disappointed faces from those who hadn't made the final cut but I did try to remind them that they should be proud to have got so far. Once the Arnhem Gallery was clear, it was time to head back to the car, which was located in full blast of the sun and consequently was extremely hot to get into. As I drove out of the car park I couldn't help thinking that we could do with a bit less of the hot sun and a bit more of the rain and cloud when the show is actually being rehearsed and then playing in August.

After a Great Production it's Back to Another

2011-06-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

Over a week since the last post but a valid reason arrived a bit out of the blue last Thursday when my wife Becky gave birth to our second child, a beautiful baby girl called Millie Ann [pictured below at three days old] weighing in at 6lbs 6ozs and with far more hair than her Daddy already!? As she was three weeks early it all happened a bit suddenly. Therefore the last week has been very hectic and maybe it was a good job our two current tours were both able to tick over whilst I was away being a Daddy. I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE completed a very successful week at the Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon and now has a week out before it has its final week at Darlington's Civic Theatre from next Tuesday. MY DOG'S GOT NO NO NOSE, which continues to receive some fantastic comments and reviews from critics and audiences alike, finished off a three-day run at Chesterfield's Pomegranate Theatre. The writer of the play, Ron Aldridge, had also attended one of the performances last week alongside his wife and his brother and sister-in-law and had e-mailed to say how proud he was of the production and Damian's performance in it. Yesterday it was off to Weston-Super-Mare and the very friendly Playhouse Theatre to continue its tour still further. Damian was looking forward to playing the Playhouse again as the audiences are always very receptive and the town is a typical seaside resort with lots to do. However, as Damian pointed out, on a one-man comedy tour there aren't many people to share the sights and sounds of the area with. It wasn't the easiest journey down to the North Somerset area with an accident on the M25 requiring a detour on to the A406, which, with a lot of rain and surface water plus, it seemed like roadworks about every mile, took about twice the usual length of time to get to the M4. However we had left in good time so even with a stop at Membury where there was a coach party of revellers en route to the sold out Glastonbury Festival, we still arrived at 5 p.m. That meant there was time to chat to two stalwarts of the Playhouse, who both seem to on the verge of leaving the venue; Pete, the Resident Technical Manager, who first worked at the Playhouse in 1969 before starting his current residency ten years later and Barry, the Front of House Manager, who is, in my opinion, one of the very best at his job in the whole country. If they do both retire, and hang up his bow tie respectively they will be sorely missed although the name of Pete will still be synonymous with the technical manager's as the deputy, ready to take over the reins is also called Pete. Chris, our own CSM and who lives in Weston and has worked and still works at the Playhouse whenever he is home, was also sat in the crew room, as by that point everything had been prepared for the show some hours ago. Another visitor made an entrance shortly as, Andy, our Musical Arranger and Director of many previous shows, summer schools and pantos, and who works at Weston College as a lecturer, came in to say Hello. Andy has a penchant for kilts and with a very distinctive hairstyle as well he is definitely one of the more noticeable characters in the town. After a nice catch up he apologised for not being able to see that night's performance as he had some A-Level exams to mark but promised he would be in to see Damian in action later in the week. I stayed to see the show up and noted it was a good responsive audience from the outset and it was going to be a very funny night. With the new family at home alone for the first time I left before the end and headed back to the M5 and M4. It was good to be back in theatre mode again after a few sleepless nights. There will probably be a couple more before I return to Weston on Saturday to collect Damian once more.

Jungle Book Worthing - Kids Auditions

2011-06-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday saw us back down on the South Coast, after I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE finished a three day run at the White Rock Theatre in Hastings, for the Children's Auditions for our August production of THE JUNGLE BOOK at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing. The venue had a film showing at 1.30 p.m., so we were on a bit of a tight schedule although, of course, when we arrived shortly after 9 a.m. we had no idea of exactly how many we would be getting through the doors. As it turned out we had a very good turn-out of youngsters of all ages, sizes and, as expected, abilities. Having said that, there was a great deal of talent on show who were given the somewhat customary introductory announcement that our auditions are not like those the children see on television on many a Saturday night. After that and introducing myself and Gemma, the theatres Press Officer, we got all the kids on stage and Gemma took some photos of all those attending for publicity and promotion. The auditionees were then taught a short dance routine which they did all together; then in half and half and then in groups of eight. After about an hour of teaching and performing the routine, it was time to let about half the ensemble go and those who were disappointed not to remain filed out of the auditorium. The ones that were left then had to do a short singing audition utilising either 'Happy Birthday' or a short excerpt of a song of their choice. Pop songs were in evidence but in my experience these are far harder to sing in a way that shows off your vocal quality than any musical theatre song. There was then a fairly unscientific further splitting of the group into 'shorter' and 'taller', whereafter the shorter group did a short acting audition. Finally it was back to the dance routine and then decision time which was very difficult given how good the remainder were. Eight children were very happy to get in; two were slightly less happy to be our two reserves and the rest left disappointed they hadn't made it but hopefully proud they had got so far along the audition process. Once the relevant forms had been given out to the successful ones, it was time to concentrate on the 'taller' set, who then did a similar acting audition and then the dance again. The standard here was very good and, also, very close, so it took far longer to separate them all and finally make a decision. In the end it came down to a question of balance and the final six were selected. As the forms were being filled in and gathered together, the crew were already in the process of setting up the stage in readiness for the film showing. Once all the information and measurements forms were in, we said our goodbyes and thank yous to the crew and staff and made our way back to the car. It had been a very enjoyable morning and I think the production of THE JUNGLE BOOK in Worthing will be very good.

End of an Era?

2011-06-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was the 1st day of June. It was also the end of an era as a decision was made on that day that made Thursday, when news of it finally reached us, a tremendously sad day. Probably it was a shock that has taken me over a week to finally come to terms with and actually post a blog about. After 31 years, with thirteen years as comic; one as Ugly Sister; six years as Choreographer and seventeen years as Producer/Director, 2011/12 will mark the first in most of my adult life with no involvement with the Grays Thameside Theatre pantomime. Progress? A change of thinking with the venue management? Or just a financial decision by the Council? Or actually we just lost out in the tender process? Apparently we were beaten on price which would seem to be the telling factor these days. It is not for me to discuss or dispute such decisions but after providing one of the best quality and value for money pantomimes in Essex [and voted such many times in the past by the local press] in probably one of the most difficult venues, in terms of facilities, that counts for nothing when cuts are being made in the arts and the Councils want to see some cash return for their services. I wish the Council, Mark, the venue Manager and all the Thameside staff every success this coming season. We will miss them all greatly. However it is not time to dwell on decisions that are out of our hands so maybe it is time to reflect on the past 31 years. The first pantomime we did, 'Dick Whittington', was a semi-professional affair which lasted for just five days from Boxing Day through to New Year's Day. By last year the length of the pantomime had grown to six weeks and I have to say I had some of the most memorable moments of my acting career in the building when I was the comic as well as some of the highlights of my directing and producing life watching our seventeen pantomimes at the venue, especially the dozen years when the ever-popular Damian Williams was the Dame and people would flock from far and wide to see him light up the stage. Other members of the recent Thameside pantomime creative team including Sallie, who has choreographed the last ten Thameside pantos and Debbie, who has written them all, and been the lynchpin around which the pantos have revolved for many a long year, confessed to a few tears at being told of the decision. It probably won't hit me quite so hard until the last Sunday in November, the usual starting day for Grays panto rehearsals. Then the absence of, what has become as much a part of my Christmas as Turkey, presents and Santa's Grotto, will suddenly be felt much more keenly. However there are many things to occupy us for the rest of the year as well as a November/December tour of the Musical version of the hit Frank Capra film IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE plus pantos at Chesterfield [ROBIN HOOD & THE BABES IN THE WOOD] and Arbroath [PUSS IN BOOTS]. We will be putting all our efforts into ensuring the venues who do want us will get the best possible pantomime production we can put on. A door may have closed but theatre life goes on and in twelve months time pantomime at the Thameside will be but a mere host of fantastic memories. Can we take this opportunity to thank every single one of the casts, crews, bands, children, mothers/chaperones, staff [both Front of House and Technical] and all the production and creative teams, indeed anyone, who have contributed to all the Thameside pantomimes since 1980 - we couldn't have done it without you! Onwards and upwards.

Booking Fees - Love them or Hate them?

2011-05-30T03:27:00.000-07:00

A tweet of last week certainly opened a big debate about the fors and againsts in relation to booking fees on tickets. One venue that we go to posed the idea of scrapping booking fees on tickets in preference for adding an amount to the face value and recouping a percentage from the promoter/producer, although I would argue we are doing that already if my last contra statement is anything to go by. It would appear from various conversations over the past week, that 'booking fees' are singularly the most complained about thing for many theatres and certainly at the venue in question. The response to our tweet shows there is a depth of feeling against 'booking fees' them especially where some theatres are adding them to cash transactions. I have to say this does seem extremely unfair as surely that is just making the price of the ticket more than the advertised price. As one tweeter said "you don't pick up a Mars bar from the shop shelf that has a price sticker on it and then when you get to the counter the shop adds another 10p just for taking your money. I can understand where venues are using the booking fee to recover credit card commissions on credit card transactions although, as a company, these commissions also come off our settlement so it would appear the booking fees are not necessarily doing this job. It has almost become a fact of life that if you buy from a ticket agency then you have to pay a booking fee. I bought some tickets a few months ago [I won't mention the event or the agency] and was charged £8.95 per ticket as, what was called, a 'booking fee'. Now at least Dick Turpin wore a mask [as another tweeter remarked last week]. Of course if you want to buy these tickets then you have to accept the fee and unless the whole ticket-buying world decides en bloc to rebel against paying these fees then they will no doubt remain. Extremely popular events such as Take That in Concert for example where supply far exceeds demand, then I am sure many people will pay whatever it takes, booking fee included, to secure their ticket for attending. Unfortunately in the world of regional theatre and, in particular, the buying and selling of tickets to drama then the application of an unseen or unstated booking fee apparently causes no end of complaints and ill-feeling from the potential audience. In some cases it is the difference between attending and not bothering. In the recession racked world we find ourselves in, where many 'punters' are more and more choosey about what they will go and see, then, as a production company, we have a role to play to listen to grievances about things that disgruntle our audiences. It would appear 'booking fees' for many events are just a fact of life that will be with us for a long time but maybe for some of the productions we put on we have to find other ways to cover these 'costs'. Any thoughts?

Driving For Cover

2011-05-21T03:43:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was a day of driving. It was the day of the funeral of fellow Producer & Director Colin McIntyre [pictured right], a lovely man, who sadly passed away a couple of weeks ago. Geoff, the Company Manager on our tour of I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE, had worked with Colin for many years, particularly over the thriller seasons at Nottingham's Theatre Royal, and so was very keen to attend the service at Golders Green Crematorium. Unfortunately the funeral was timed for 11 a.m. on the Wednesday, a day which also saw the tour with a matinee at 2.30. After making some enquiries, Geoff had ascertained that there was a train from Kings Cross that would get him back to Peterborough about 1.55. However there was also that nagging doubt about potential 'disasters' [we only have to look back at James breaking his foot last week for evidence of that] and delays on the rail network. In order to put Geoff's, and the rest of the company's, minds at rest I said I would drive to Peterborough on the Wednesday morning to 'cover' Geoff's position should the worst happen. Fortunately for me, and probably everyone else concerned, I didn't encounter any delays and, far more importantly, nor did Geoff and as I arrived at the Key Theatre [pictured below] Geoff sent a text to say he was on his train and it was "on time". I was on hand to give Brian and Cathy some personal "Half-Hour Calls" and Geoff, thankfully, arrived just before the next call needed to be done. There was just time to have a quick chat with Michael, the theatre manager and one of the best friends of BJP, before getting back on the road heading south towards Essex again. There was a stop at Cambridge Services to do a couple of important e-mails that needed sorting that afternoon before collecting Damian from his home and making our way towards Chatham for the last performance. There was an element of a 'race against time' about the day so once Damian was safely in the theatre, after winning his own race to get to Wilkinsons to buy some 'Red Rooster' potato seeds, there was more relief. There was another good audience for the play which also included Paul and Emily from Evolution Pantomimes, who Damian currently works for each Xmas at Sheffield Lyceum and the effervescent Patrick Monckton, who has worked for us a couple of times before. After meeting up with them all afterwards and being pleased to hear they had all thoroughly enjoyed the play and Damian's performance, we said goodbye to the crew and Chris as they were doing the Get-Out. The last leg of the 'driving' day was uneventful especially as we managed to avoid all the 10 p.m. road closures in and around the Dartford Crossing and the rest of South Essex. I was pleased to find the next 'cover' I encountered was one I could sleep under.

My Dog's Got No Nose in Chatham

2011-05-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

Our tour of the excellent comedy MY DOG'S GOT NO NOSE had a three-day run at the Central Theatre in Chatham [pictured right] this week. It had been a few weeks since the initial date in Southend and the CSM had changed to Chris, who had been on THE BLACK VEIL. So, as Chris, had only seen the show from the front at the Palace Theatre I arranged to collect Damian early and head across the Dartford Bridge to Kent to get to the theatre once the set and props had been delivered and unloaded. There was surprisingly little traffic and it didn't take long before we were safely parked in the theatre car park and making our way into the theatre itself. The crew, and Chris, had already placed all the bits and pieces of the set, such as it is, on the stage and they would spend the next hour or so laying down the floor and putting everything into place. Whilst Damian went off to find a coffee shop in the town centre I waited in the dressing room ready to assist Chris with the lighting once the scenery was sorted. It was about 11 a.m. when Chris finally came to find me and I sat in as the lights were focussed just in case there were any queries about positioning etc. It didn't take that long to do all the lights although the job description for the crew must include 'trapeze artist' as the two front of house lighting bars both required harnesses and the use of a wire ladder that are used by such circus acts to get to their apparatus. I am not sure I would be that keen on being suspended in the ceiling but I assume Health & Safety is paramount for such work practices. After focussing it was time for the plotting, up in the lighting box, which also didn't take a huge amount of time although there are a few specials to get in the right place at the right level. It was back down to the auditorium in order to set the sound levels as the sound desk is situated high up in the circle so the sound in the stalls can be deceptive. It was about 12.15 when it was all done and Damian returned from his coffee-assisted line refresher almost on cue. We arranged to do a Dress Rehearsal at 2.30 to give Damian a chance to get back to the previous performance level and, probably more importantly in the circumstances, it gave Chris an opportunity to see and call the show from his Prompt Corner position rather than an audience. Although there were a few understandable fumbles and stumbles, which were not repeated in the actual show, the Dress Rehearsal was pretty smooth and all we required after it was an audience. After trying, and sadly failing, to find anywhere decent to eat we had to settle for the Fast Food option before we had to meet up with Nick, from the theatre, who was going to be in charge of the 'Talkback' session after the show. Various theatres these days offer a similar Q & A session for their audiences after one performance of the run. It is just something different and does provide an opportunity for both the cast, or Damian in this case, and the members of the audience to see another side of the play than just watching it. We had quite a long discussion with Nick so he had more of an idea about the content of the piece and everything behind it so he had a number of questions he could ask and get a good reaction from those who had stayed behind. It was great to see the play again as it really does have a bit of everything in it and shows just how good Damian is as a comic and also as a straight actor. The audience seemed to really enjoy the play and the post-show session was very enjoyable too with Nick working very hard to make it as informative and interesting as possible for all involved. Then it was back towards Essex with a sense of relief that everything was back up and running again. The rest of the performances also went very well and if you get a chance to catch the comedy on its tour I promise you will not be disappointed as it is a great night out.

I Met A Man Re-Opens With a Fracture

2011-05-14T06:25:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night the tour of I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE finally got back to some semblance of normality as Brian Capron [aka 'Richard Hillman from ITV's CORONATION STREET] took over the leading man's role following the illness of Philip Madoc. It was the end of a long road of rehearsals, understudy calls and countless other line runs etc and Brian was an instant success in the part bringing lots of creepiness and composure to the part. However on Wednesday the 'curse' of the play had struck once more as James, the male Understudy, fractured his metatarsal when he misjudged a section of the stage during the Get-In. He had to spend a vast majority of that day at Weston Hospital where he had his foot X-Rayed and then plastered and he returned to the theatre on crutches. Thursday was spent with 24 hours of keeping his foot up to ensure no further damage. The next week will define whether any further operations or any other treatment is required. Obviously James won't be able to continue with the tour until there is some sort of healing in place. We wish him well in his recovery however long that takes. The tour continues in Weston until tonight [Saturday] and then moves on next week to Peterborough's Key Theatre [Monday to Wednesday] and then Southend's Palace Theatre [Thursday to Saturday].

Understudying the Understudy

2011-05-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

A week has gone by since the last Blog post but maybe I have an excuse. It was last Monday that it was decided that I would be going on as 'Edgar Ryme' in our tour of I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE for three performances at the Hawthorne Theatre, Campus West in Welwyn Garden City. Up until that point the agreement had been, if Brian Capron, the unwell Philip Madoc's replacement on the tour, had been ready to take over he would do so. However his contractual agreement was always that he would be making his first appearance in Weston-Super-Mare this coming Thursday. On our Bank Holiday Monday return back to rehearsals at Dance Attic from the Sunday off, the decision was made that Brian would not feel comfortable performing for the first time in the production in Welwyn. It was a case of 'Sod's' or 'Murphy's Law' that the usual understudy James had entered into his own contract at the beginning of the tour on the understanding that he would be unable to appear on that relevant Friday and Saturday as he was already committed to another show on those nights. The only person who knew the show well enough to go on was me. I had been rehearsing the play for over three weeks by that point and, obviously, having directed the piece I was fairly familiar with the moves, the action, the effects and what should happen when. However on my train journey home that Monday evening, a quick glance at the 71 page script did bring a sense of foreboding as it was going to be a hell of a learn in just three days. Having done a lot of Weekly Rep in the dim and distant past, learning scripts quickly wasn't something that was alien to me but, even so, not all of the plays done in Rep are two handers and I don't think many of them were quite like I MET A MAN in its construction. It was a question of 'Just getting on with it' and doing what I could. I have always used the same method to learn lines; putting all the other characters lines on tape and leaving gaps for my own ones. That wasn't the easiest thing to do with this play as there are so many long speeches and monologues that you just couldn't learn in a more conventional way. Obviously the word 'tape' has moved on into the world of the Digital Voice Recorder which are a lot easier to rewind and play when required. Fortunately we had done quite a lot of work on Act One by that point in the rehearsal period so a lot of those lines came quickly when trying to learn them. It is a question of 'breaking the back' of the script before you can just do the lines whenever and wherever you can; in the car, in the bath, in bed, on the train, anywhere in fact. A couple of late nights did that 'back-breaking' work and with long train and tube journeys on Tuesday and Wednesday morning and evening I was able to go over and over the script with Recorder and earphones in place. I must have looked a bit odd mouthing lines sat on the trains but it was a means to an end and although I think it was one of the most difficult scripts I have ever had to learn it was certainly getting there by the time I travelled to Welwyn Garden City on the Thursday morning. James was going on that night and the audience also consisted of Brian Capron so he could see how the play worked. I watched the First Act and a bit of the Second but, to be honest, watching someone else do the lines I was in the process of learning was starting to get confusing so I didn't watch it all. Another couple of drives back and forth from Home to Welwyn gave me more opportunities to learn those all important lines. When I arrived back at the theatre on the Friday afternoon I set about trying to stay as calm as possible and convince myself that, in the great scheme of things, there were worse things I could be doing. Brian arrived in order to rehearse with Susan, Cathy's Understudy, on stage in preparation for next week whilst I waited for Cathy to arrive. The title of the play was beginning to get very apt for Cathy as I became the third 'Edgar' she had played opposite in just three venues as well rehearsing heavily with a fourth over the past week. We did the Second Scene in her dressing room just so we could get a feel of working opposite each other and, as Cathy would have had no idea at all of whether I could even act let alone learn the lines, prove that I was on top of the script. There is a big difference between saying your lines in gaps on a recording to actually interacting with someone in a play mode. That particular rehearsal went OK and I think both Cathy and I were more confident after it. After Brian and Susan had finished their rehearsal I went on stage and just spent a bit of time going over the moves; once again with recorder and earphones in place. By that point the rollercoaster was well on its way to the top of its climb and as the time for curtain up approached there was certainly no getting off once it started down the other side. It was a pretty good house although I guess none of them knew the situation that had led us to the 'casting' of that particular performance. Reminding myself once more, even more forcefully, that there were worse things I could be about to cope with I headed to the stage at the 'Act One Beginners Call' determined to try and enjoy the experience if I could. What followed over the next two hours was at best described as 'exhilarating' and at worst 'terrifying'. It is the sort of piece where you cannot drop your concentration for one moment or you are lost and the whole thing grinds to a halt. I am pleased, if that is the right word, to say I only had two 'hairy moments' - one in each Act when the powers of memory deserted me for a fleeting second that felt like hours as the brain searched desperately for the next link. On both occasions Cathy stepped in to assist as, fortunately, they were at moments when she could. There is so much of the play when helping the other actor is virtually impossible as the longer speeches nearly always contain some new plot pointer or revelation. The interval arrived. Time for a breather for both the vocals and the overworked brain. There wasn't too long though before we were off again and it was back into the firing line in terms of hoping the memory would hold up for 45 more minutes more in Act Two. By the time the final curtain came down and the audience clapped their appreciation of what they had witnessed, my brain was near to frying. I can only describe it as doing a hugely long bungee jump when you are never quite sure if the rope will hold when you get to the very limit of its stretch and you hope it will stop and eventually bring you back to the top. Gratified that I had managed one performance I resisted the thought of 'celebration' by the realisation that I was going to have to do it again the following day and twice in a few hours at that. With this in mind I did the script again via the learning method on the way home and on the return journey the following day. I can't acknowledge that either the Saturday matinee or the final evening performance were 'clean' i.e. I didn't make any mistakes but I think I can flag up only a few errors in each show that, hopefully, weren't too glaring to be noticed by the audiences. By 9.30 p.m. on Saturday the curtain fell for the last time with the applause for the play still ringing around the auditorium on me playing 'Edgar Ryme'. Although in some sort of almost masochistic way I had enjoyed the challenge and the achievement of it all, I will not be sorry to pass the 'baton' of Mr. Ryme on to Brian in Weston later this week. It is not something I would choose to do on a regular basis. I am happy to go back to being the 'Man' who wasn't there.

I Met A Man on a Bank Holiday

2011-05-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

Another week starting with a Bank Holiday Monday although this one is in a different month. I am not sure where the first third of 2011 went but here we are already in May. With the continuing Bank Holiday there was still the accompanying Engineering Works to cope with. However I had, at least, had a rehearsal on Saturday for all the changes.
There were more people milling about everywhere although most didn't seem to have a purpose and were just moving from place to place to see what was going on. Dance Attic was almost back to its busiest and most vibrant best but we were back in the Ballroom where we originally rehearsed so there was less music noise to contend with. And, unlike last time, I counted only two ambulance sirens going past, or maybe I had just become immune to them since last time.
Brian and Cathy both appeared to have had a good day off although Brian was still suffering a bit with his back - an affliction that actually fitted in with his character quite well. Maybe the role is beginning to take him over? We started the day/week with another consolidation period of Act One Scene Two as Brian felt that was the most productive thing to help him get the lines in.
It felt far more relaxed without the excessive music noise of last week and it was much easier to concentrate for all involved. Brian confessed that it was probably one on the hardest things he had had to learn especially coming right on the tail of his 'Columbo' tour and his appearances as 'Hook' in the Musical version of 'Peter Pan'. After lunch we ran the whole of Act One which went very well and then, after a quick break, we moved on to Act Two. That consolidated the moves and we can go over that more fully tomorrow.
Elsewhere our tour of The Black Veil opens in Blackpool at the Grand Theatre tonight so hopefully that will go well. There seems to be lots of other things on hold over the last two weeks of Easter Weddings & Maydays. Maybe tomorrow, to coin a song from 'Annie', things will start to move again and we can confirm a few details about certain projects. I have a feeling this could turn out to be a busy week!

Another I Met A Man Update

2011-05-01T04:29:00.001-07:00

'Saturday rehearsals' have become inextricably linked with 'Engineering Works' and, particularly after the Royal Wedding yesterday when Transport for London [tfl] pulled out all the stops to ensure there was no disruption for the crowds to get to that occasion, it was always going to be the Bank Holiday Weekend travellers who suffered the backlash. Consequently there were no direct trains from Rayleigh to Liverpool Street meaning a first detour to Benfleet to get a c2c train towards Fenchurch Street. However the disruption was only starting as then there were no Circle Line or District Line trains from Tower Hill, so that meant changing at West Ham and taking the Jubilee, Piccadilly and District Lines, at Earls Court, before eventually arriving at Fulham Broadway. Fortunately the tfl website was informative!

Anyway enough of the travel problems and I still arrived at Dance Attic in good time. The venue was busier than yesterday but, owner, Andrew described it as "still subdued". In the large studio there was only a sedate ballet class and 'Norman's Studio', location next door for many auditions in the past week, was empty for the morning session we were there. After Brian and Cathy arrived we concentrated on Act One Scene Two which was only slightly surreal at the moment when the ballet accompanist played 'The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' - incongruous to say the least. It was a productive session and the two actors seemed to hardly notice the piano music changing to an Aerobics Class backing. It wasn't anywhere near as loud as the notorious Flamenco Dancers or the choreographing of 'Let's Dance' that had heralded our arrival last Tuesday. There was much laughter when Brian changed "[His wife left him because he] failed to climb very high up the ladder", to "failed to climb very high up a ladder", which made it sound like his marriage failed because of a lack of DIY skills. After a very intense week, tears of laughter over such a small thing released the tension for a bit. We finished at 1 p.m. for two main reasons - one being it gave Brian more time over the rest of that day and the Sunday day off to carrying on learning lines, and second being Chelsea playing Tottenham at 5.30 p.m. You don't want to be anywhere near Fulham Broadway Tube station when there is a football match on at Stamford Bridge, the entrance to which is about four hundred yards away. The car park where Cathy has been parking her car during the week was also shutting early because of the football crowds. When I was back at the station on my homeward leg there were already hordes of people in football colours etc flooding through the station gates; and that with still over four hours to kick off. Apparently at its busiest times the station is so busy you cannot move for people. Maybe that was why when we rehearsed at Dance Attic about two years ago, and I was on the station whilst the game was going on, I found a Chelsea supporter, who claimed to be a Season Ticket holder, on the platform. He had left the game at half-time to avoid the crowds getting home. All a bit pointless being a supporter then if you ask me and paying a huge amount of money for a Season Ticket and only seeing half the games!

Sunday is a day off as I mentioned so, on reflection, it has been a very good and productive week and I think Brian is going to be a 'wonderfully creepy' Edgar Ryme. Rehearsals recommence on Monday - yet another Bank Holiday - well for everyone else at least!

I Met A Man Update

2011-04-29T06:34:00.001-07:00

After another good day on Thursday it was back to Dance Attic on Friday morning to keep things moving. This was done even though the Royal Wedding of Prince William of Wales and Catherine [Kate] Middleton, soon to be the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge, was taking place elsewhere in London. As it was a holiday for most people the early morning train I travelled on from Rayleigh was virtually empty and that trend was continued once on the tube. Although I did go via Edgware Road rather than Westminster & St.James Park where I envisaged the majority of the wedding watchers would be heading.
It was very quiet everywhere and on arrival at Dance Attic I don't think I have ever been there and not seen another single person apart from the owner Andrew. Cathy and Brian were very happy that there was virtual silence in the building after all the noises earlier in the week as it was a great help to their concentration in trying to remember lines etc.
We worked through both scenes of Act One a couple of times and it is really coming together well. Brian is going to be perfect in the role and an excellent foil for Cathy's performance. I am really looking forward to their first night together on stage.
We finished at 2 pm as Brian wanted some time to continue to learn his lines outside of the rehearsal time. With so many other things to be sorted out even over another long Bank Holiday weekend I was more than happy to allow the earlier finish.
As we left Dance Attic it was obvious Andrew was enjoying the last of the calm before the 'storm' started again about half an hour later with another set of auditions.

I Met A Man Day Two

2011-04-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

After the initial blocking yesterday it was time to put the 'meat on the bones' on day two and start from the top again. It was also the occasion of Brian's wife's 50th birthday so his thoughts were on that celebration that evening as well. Not that it affected his concentration at all as he was very focussed on all we did.
Somewhat fortunately the Flamenco Dancers had gone from the large studio next door so there was no stamping to contend with this time round. However there were a lot of auditions going on in the adjacent smaller studio and some of the auditionees were 'painful' to say the least. Most of the time Cathy and Brian were able to block out all the accompanying noise although when you are fighting for a line the last thing you need is a badly sung version of 'Anthem' from Chess!?
Cathy was more careful with her hip today and so we did two two-hour sessions with her before utilising the last hour with just Brian going over his lines in Act One Scene One. This he found very productive and he was able to head home for the birthday dinner with positive vibes.
It was a good day all round and I think the play will be looking great when it gets into the bulk of its tour next week.

I Met A Man again

2011-04-27T09:43:00.001-07:00

Because of the ill health of Philip Madoc we had to go back to the casting of the role of 'Edgar Ryme'. Eventually we settled on Brian Capron who is immediately recognisable to all the many fans of Coronation Street as the infamous 'Richard Hillman'. As the character Brian won many Soap Awards including an unprecedented five back in 2007 when he was voted 'Best Actor' and 'Best Villain'. Brian has just been touring as 'Columbo' in Middle Ground Theatre Company's production of the same name. Therefore he had to get used to not changing all his lines into American.
It was back to Dance Attic on Tuesday morning as we began the process of rehearsing Brian into the play. With Cathy still recovering from her hip operation we have to be careful we don't exhaust her during a period that was supposed to be part of her convalescence. After last time when we were in the ballroom upstairs and constantly hearing fire and ambulance sirens going past, this time we were downstairs. That is nearer to the largest studio of Dance Attic and it was our 'luck' that it was being used by a whole host of Flamenco dancers and an amplified guitarist. By the end of the day the stamping feet was beginning to go straight through you. As if that wasn't enough to disturb the relative leave and quiet of our thriller rehearsal, in the afternoon the studio the other side was a dance rehearsal using Lady Ga-Ga's Let's Dance. That song is well known to me as it was No. 1 in the charts when my son Logan was born but after about two hours of it even that memory was wearing thin! However both Brian and Cathy seemed fairly oblivious to the sounds from the other studios and it was a very productive rehearsal during which I managed to block the whole play so Brian knew what he had let himself in for. It appears he had gone from the Broadway version of Peter Pan straight into Columbo at very short notice and now into I Met A Man with even less warning. There is nothing like being kept on your toes. It should be an interesting week but hopefully less stamping and loud dance music to contend with.

My Dog's Got No Nose in Southend

2011-04-19T05:17:00.000-07:00

Running the London Marathon on Sunday took up a lot of my time over the last week so apologies for the lack of blog posts in the last week! I managed to complete the course in spite of wrecking my foot at six miles and having to walk the last thirteen in a fair amount of pain. Still 'No Pain No Gain' as they say and if anybody still wants to sponsor my efforts then head to www.justgiving.com/BruceJames and donate to Leukaemia Care. Whilst all that was going on Damian Williams was giving a virtuoso performance in MY DOG'S GOT NO NOSE at the Palace Theatre in Southend. Because of the running commitments I was only able to attend the opening night which was just a really great night in the theatre. MY DOG'S GOT NO NOSE is a terrific play that, in my opinion, gives you a bit of everything that you could want from the world of theatre. There are laughs galore, poignant moments, audience participation, cheers, sadness, happiness and sympathy and Damian is at his very best as the clown, the comic, the storyteller, the cheerleader and ultimately the actor supreme. The first night audience seemed to absolutely love the play and there was a standing ovation for Damian's efforts. It was a pity the house wasn't full because the play and the performance definitely deserves full houses.
With a minimal set of a floor, a bed, a dressing table, a bedside cabinet and a couple of chairs the scenery doesn't take a lot of setting up so Geoff, who designed it all and came along to the Palace on the Thursday to set it all up, had it all in place by lunchtime. Alex, who is CSM/DSM on the tour was able to see exactly what was required for the production before Geoff eventually left, his job complete, during the afternoon's Dress Rehearsal. That Dress Rehearsal was fairly smooth but, with Damian's dislike of over-rehearsing such things he was happy to get through it and then prepare for its first performance in front of a 'live' audience.

Whilst the rehearsal was taking place on stage the cast of THE BLACK VEIL had arrived at the Palace as well as Andrew, the original 'Luke' in that production, was due to go back into the tour following Nick Barclay's exit to Cunard and our tour of UP POMPEII reaching its conclusion. They spent about four hours in the Green Room going over the second act of the play in particular as that is when 'Luke' appears so that Andrew, Nick and Jen were happy that the first night at the Theatre Royal in Windsor yesterday would be as good as possible.

My Dog's Got No Nose Rehearsals

2011-04-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

An advantage of doing a play that you have done before and, in the case of MY DOG'S GOT NO NOSE only eighteen months ago, is that it is comparatively fresh in the memory and we also have an archive DVD of it to look back on. The DVD recording was actually quite valuable today as Damian Williams had only written down a few uninformative notes in his script for some of the added pieces in the stand-up comedy part of the play. Looking back on the previous production meant we could find out exactly what happened before. After the big company that was UP POMPEII on Saturday night it was strange to do rehearsals today with just Damian, Alex, who is going to be CSM on the tour, and myself. It was another warm day and the rehearsal venue hall has plastic 'windows' in the roof which do their utmost to keep the warmth in. It also makes the space very bright which has its advantages at times but on days like today it was almost an excuse for wearing sunglasses indoors. Damian has tremendous powers of recall in terms of lines he has done in previous plays. I am often amazed that he can recite long speeches from plays he has done many years ago. I know of many actors who can happily do many well-known speeches from Shakespeare and other classic plays but farces can be very different and not as easy to recollect. This morning Damian went through Act One as if he had only finished the previous production last week with only the occasional prompt and stop to clarify a move or, as mentioned previously, the gags contained in the actual stand-up routine. We actually managed to run Act One twice before lunch so Damian felt confident of that section before moving on. The second Act is far more difficult in many ways as the whole thing becomes more intense and involved. The afternoon was a slower process as it had been when we did the play last time. However I am sure it won't take long to get this act to the same standard as the first. After rehearsing a two-hander a few weeks ago it is even more important on a solo performance to give the actor as many breaks and rests as they need to stop the brain from 'frying' and getting confused. By 4 p.m. it was time to call it a day and allow Damian to concentrate on getting the lines of the last seven pages of the piece under his belt.

It would appear Twitter has become a favourite of many BJP actors recently and hardly a day goes by at the moment when someone else doesn't get on board the 'tweet-train'. You can follow BJP @brucejamesprods; Damian @djwilliamsact and Alex @alexnewbold

UP POMPEII Finishes Its Tour in Weston

2011-04-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

Our highly successful tour of UP POMPEII had its last performance on Saturday night at the Playhouse Theatre in Weston-Super-Mare. I travelled down on the Saturday afternoon to be in the audience for that final show. It was certainly worthwhile as it was one of the best nights of the tour with huge laughs from the packed house. One particular lady in the Circle was so shocked by the sight of Richard's backside at the end of Act One that she was still open-mouthed as the lioghts went down for Act Two.

I had arrived about 6 p.m. with the majority of the company out having something to eat and enjoying the warm spring sunshine that had descended on the seaside resort and most of the country it would appear. I found Sophie aka 'Senns the Soothsayer', in her other role as ASM, resetting the stage for the last performance and we had quite a long chat about her future plans and those of her fiance Nick, who is off cruising with Cunard next month. Gradually the rest of the company returned from their break and I took the opportunity to ask them to sponsor me for next week's Virgin London Marathon, which I am running in aid of the charity Leukaemia Care. After raising another £100 from them all, it was time for the final preparations for the cast so I went off to the bar and had a chat with Miles, the writer of the comedy, who had come down to see both of the day's performances with his friend Declan. Miles has been very supportive of the production and I know he has been truly thrilled to see it all come to life. On the last night Damian, who starred as ‘Lurcio’, was on top form and admitted after the last performance that it was one production he was really going to miss. It was a memorable evening and the audience certainly showed their appreciation of the night's entertainment on the curtain calls. Before we knew it, there were many hugs, kisses, handshakes and even tears as the company said their goodbyes although, surprisingly many of the cast were still in the building as the Get-Out neared its end. Normally the majority of the cast would have been heading towards the M5 soon after the curtain has come to rest.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the production including the truly lovely company; Damian, Ben, Jackie, Richard, Cloudia, Mieke, Alex, Lucinda, Andrew, Neil and Sophie as well as the CSM Ally and the Production Manager Geoff. We would also like to thank all the venues and their staffs and crews for all their help and hospitality over the length of the tour. A special note of thanks must also go to Miles Tredinnick and his agent Tessa Le Bars who allowed us to use the excellent script that had been gathering dust in a drawer of his house until late last year. Of course our biggest gratitude goes to all the wonderful audiences who came along to see the production because there would have no laughs at all without you. The ‘Orgy of Laughter’ may now be over but it will certainly have some great memories for us all. UP POMPEII may well be finished for now by it will definitely not be forgotten very quickly!

I Met A Man Who Was An Understudy

2011-04-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

Philip Madoc was taken ill after our initial week of I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE so by the time we got to Lowestoft's Marina Theatre on Thursday the Understudy, James, knew that he would be going on for the performances at the Suffolk venue. He had managed to do two days with Cathy in London on Tuesday and Wednesday so by the time we all got together on Thursday morning James seemed very confident of it all. With the set being built on stage Cathy and James set about doing a line run in the dressing room. I did a good deal of paperwork in another of the rooms backstage and could hear the raised voices of the two actors on occasions. Once they had finished around 1.30, Cathy went off back to her hotel in order to rest her hip as it is to be remembered that she is still only six weeks into her recovery period after her operation. Geoff and the Marina Theatre crew continued on their tasks of getting the show ready. It is not the easiest of fit-ups to do in a day, especially the first time and as we had three days in Chesterfield it did take a bit of doing. Fortunately Geoff and the resident team were very calm and efficient about it all and, by 6 p.m., the lights had been focussed and plotted and the sound cues, which are being toured on a laptop to make its set up much easier, were all in place. James took his opportunity to walk about on the set getting used to the space although he had done some understudy rehearsals with Susan, Cathy's cover, during last week at the Pomegranate.

James was certainly exuding calmness and confidence so I went to watch in the circle happy that all would be well and the play would be very good. This, indeed, turned out to be the case as James and Cathy had an instant rapport and James gave a very good performance with only the most minor of mistakes that the audience would not have noticed. There were a couple of push button errors at the end of Act One which made the last scene interesting without losing its momentum. Another very good sized audience gave the play a great reception at the end although I think the two actors were willing the extremely slow curtain motor to speed up after their last bow. Martin, the venue manager, had organised drinks to be delivered after the show came down and these duly arrived and were enjoyed by a relieved cast and crew. After sharing the moment with the rest of the company it was time to get back in the car and make my way home, albeit down one of my least favourite roads; the dark, twisting and turning A12 between Lowestoft and Martlesham, north of Ipswich. It had been a hectic couple of days but thanks to James, Cathy, Susan and Geoff, the last part of it had gone off very smoothly. Many thanks also to the Marina staff for making it all so easy. As they embark on a new era run by Martin Halliday and the Friends of the Theatre they deserve every success in their venture to maintain theatre in the town.

Up Pompeii Reaches Its Last Week

2011-04-07T05:57:00.000-07:00

Our hugely successful tour of UP POMPEII arrived at the Playhouse Theatre in Weston-Super-Mare on Wednesday to embark on its last week. Because of various things, including a heavy workload on other shows as well as a few family issues, I hadn't seen the production since its week at Southend's Palace Theatre back in February. I had been hearing great reports on the tour from venues and audiences alike via various methods including e-mail, text, phone call, Facebook and Twitter. The company had certainly sounded like it was having a fabulous time on the tour and when I picked up Damian from his home he was certainly very positive about the production and how well it had gone. Our first port of call was our store in Edmonton where we dropped off a few props and costumes that were no longer needed at the moment. Then, after a failed attempt to sign the new lease on our storage unit as they couldn't find the document, we were back in the car and off towards the M11. It was a traffic jam free ride round the M25, then along the M4 and eventually the M5 before we tried to find a Service Station where there was a Starbucks Coffee Shop. They are a clear winner with coffee connoisseur Damian, even if Costa continue to 'trumpet' the fact that they were voted No.1 Coffee Shop in the UK. They wouldn't win that award with Damian. After a break in the much cooler outside area of the Starbucks franchise we got back in the car, which was much warmer in the spring sunshine. Once in Weston I dropped Damian at his digs, very close to where companies always used to stay by the seaside, before I parked the car and headed towards the theatre. I found one of the Petes on the crew hoovering the stairs as I entered the building so immediately made the assumption that the set was ready and the lighting and sound cues had all been plotted. That assumption was correct and there wasn't anyone else about as the company weren't called until 5.30. That was the 'volcano' call where the most technical part of the show right at the very end was rehearsed by the cast. By the allotted time there were two absentees with Neil suffering from a bad cold in his dressing room and Richard still travelling down on the train after a recall for an advert. Their participation wasn't that crucial as there are others in the cast involved in their sections of the 'eruption'. Once everyone was happy, there was just time to grab some food around the corner before making sure the company was back in the theatre before the half hour call. Prior to the show going up, the company 'celebrated' the birthday yesterday of Jax Roberts with cards and presents in the girls dressing room. She is obviously a popular member of the cast by the things that she had been bought. I think she was quite touched by it all.

The show itself had evolved as I had expected it to have done and there were huge amounts of laughter from the very good sized audience. Damian was in fine form and I don't think I have ever heard quite so many exit rounds in one performance. The tour now has only three performances left, which is a shame as it has been very successful and a very happy company as well. After the curtain came down on Wednesday night there wasn't time to hang around as I needed to be in Lowestoft with I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE thirteen hours later. It was back to the car and back onto the M5 towards Essex in the hope I might get a few hours sleep before heading up to Suffolk.

King Kong - The Musical [April Fool]

2011-04-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

The first day of April was memorable for us at BJP because of our intention to 'tour' KING KONG - THE MUSICAL; an idea dreamed up on my way home from Chesterfield on Thursday night. I stress when I picked the title I had absolutely no idea that there is an actual musical of that name as it seemed so far fetched as a subject for song and dance. It started out as THE ELEPHANT MAN - THE MUSICAL but I thought all those who have seen the film THE TALL GUY would see through that immediately as there is a 'musical' of that name involved in that. It was definitely an April Fool's joke but because of the fact if you Googled 'King Kong - the Musical' you did actually get some results so many more people actually fell for it. It has been done in Australia and there is talk of it heading to Broadway next year or later this. Consequently we were inundated by e-mails and tweets from many singers, dancers, actors and actresses asking for more information and requesting auditions. In return we sent the following:

Many thanks for your interest in KING KONG – THE MUSICAL. It will have all the classics in it such as I GO APE, MONKEY BUSINESS, KONG FAY FIGHTING and who can forget the legendary MESS WITH THE GORILLA & YOU’LL BE TOAST! For your audition you will need to choose to sing one of the following ballads: CHECK THE DATE; HOW STUPID DO I FEEL or GOT YOU by the Dooleys!

HAPPY APRIL FOOL’S DAY!

All the best from all of us at BJP

We would like to thank everybody who contacted us during the day, both those who guessed straight away it was a spoof and those who were completely fooled and asked questions like "How have you got the Rights to that?", "Where is the budget going to come from?" and "What size van will I need to transport the replica Empire State Building from Paul at our transport company. Paul confessed to having been convinced of the reality of our autumn touring intentions and had discussed it with several people during the day. It certainly was a very amusing day all round and to all those who were involved we can only say you were great sports.

I Met A Man Who Wasn't There - Opening Night

2011-03-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

The World Premiere of I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE took place this evening at Chesterfield's Pomegranate Theatre. It all went very well but, as with all premieres, it will undoubtedly take some time to get the production exactly right. This is inevitably true of this particular play as it has a lot of technical things to be sorted out and although nearly all of them worked perfectly this evening there is more we can do to make it slicker, more powerful and definitely scarier. The Second Act of this evening's performance was marred, if that is the right word, by a Mobile phone going off. In a comedy such things don't tend to catch the attention so much and, if Damian Williams on stage, you are liable to very quickly become part of the action and the focus of much laughter from the rest of the audience. In a thriller it is a nightmare as it completely destroys any atmosphere created and, on talking to the cast afterwards, they had to think hard for a while to ensure it wasn't yet another sound effect that needed a reaction to it. I am always amazed by people leaving their mobile phones on in the theatre, even after a polite request prior to curtain up asking the audience members to turn them off. I have been in audiences where people have nonchalantly answered a loudly ringing phone and then said in a loud pseudo-whisper, "I can't talk, I'm in the theatre!" Tonight's recipient of the call seemed totally oblivious of the fact it was her mobile that was ringing loudly. Finally, after what felt like a minute, she got it out of her bag but, instead of just switching the errant phone off, proceeded to run out of the auditorium with it still emitting its noisy and irritating ring. The cast, to their credit, carried on regardless but the dialogue of that scene was totally missed by the entire audience who watched this lady struggle to open the door to the foyer before eventually noisily exiting. Cathy, who was in mid speech, maintained her composure through it all, but did comment that "At least she came back to watch the end". I am not sure if that wasn't extremely tongue-in-cheek.

The day had started very early for the Stage Management and the crew and when I arrived in the theatre there was already a hive of activity on stage with pictures going up and other dressings being positioned. There were also lighting and sound tweaking before the two cast members arrived for the continuation of the Tech. Rehearsal from last night. It was another long and painstaking rehearsal which was very necessary in order to get everything just right and to make sure the cast and crew were sure of how everything went together and the precise timetable of all the effects. We finished the whole show by 1.45 and it was decided we would start the full Dress Rehearsal at 3.15 p.m. Cathy wanted to make sure she could get through the show without feeling too tired and over-using her hip so used her crutch for the Tech and the Dress. A sensible idea in the circumstances as the performance tonight was definitely the one to concentrate on. The Dress Rehearsal was pretty smooth apart from a few, to be expected, issues which we sorted out at the end of the run which was around 5.40. The cast seemed, understandably, anxious about actually doing the play in front of the paying public but before we knew it the 'house' was open and the audience were filing in. Last minute adjustments were made and then we were off. The production went very well, all things considered, and will certainly get better. Once again Geoff, who designed and painted the set, organised the props, dressings and costumes, designed the lighting and also completed a myriad of other tasks to get the production up and running, deserves a huge amount of praise and congratulations. I doubt the show would have arrived at its opening night without his invaluable input. The writer, Philip, seemed fairly satisfied with the outcome of the first performance too, although I am sure there are some tweaks and re-writes to come now he has seen his 'baby' on stage. Now it is time to reflect on a very busy day before an 11 a.m. call time in the morning to sort some things out.

An Ex-Prince Charming Wins ITV's DANCING ON ICE

2011-03-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

ITV's Dancing On Ice star Sam Attwater, triumphed last Saturday, which was no surprise to staff at the Thameside Theatre and all of us here at Bruce James Productions. For it was at the Thameside Theatre in 2008/9 where he played Prince Charming in our pantomime CINDERELLA. The tall dark haired prince was a big hit in the panto playing opposite Claire-Louise Mealor, who had that year won BBC TV’s DanceX competition. Sam is originally from Basingstoke and trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. He had played in West End musicals and a Bollywood film when he came to the Thameside but since then he has appeared in HOLLYOAKS in which he played 'Ricky Campbell' and EASTENDERS where he played 'Leon Small'. Grays Thameside Theatre Arts Manager Mark Allinson said “The Thameside is one of the smallest professional theatres in Britain so we tend to get actors when they are on the way up or on the way down. Its great to see an all round actor, singer and dancer like Sam get on. He is a nice guy and a good performer so he deserves it”. Congratulations to Sam and his partner Brianne Delcourt in what was a very hard fought Grand Final last Sunday. He has certainly come a long way since he played 'Prince Charming' for us. The photo below shows Sam in action opposite Darren Tough as 'Dandini'.

I Met A Man Who Wasn't There - Technical Rehearsal

2011-03-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

As it turned out it was a good job we had an extra day to get things ready for the opening of I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE as it is a technical minefield in many ways. With many layered sound cues, that also accompany lighting cues as well as projection cues at the same time, the actual Technical Rehearsal took much longer than anticipated. From 4 p.m., when we eventually started through to 7 p.m. when we finished, we only managed to get through Act One. The day had started with the focussing of the lighting which has to be right to ensure maximum effect of the projection and to create the right atmosphere for the play. To that end Geoff, Shane, Trig and Pete of the Pomegranate were in very early to get things started. Andy, in his role as Sound Designer, was also in early to tweak the sound and make sure all the effects came through the right speakers including the actual projection in the mirror. The cast arrived shortly after 10 a.m. to do another line run and I headed off to my makeshift office to catch up with any paperwork that needed sorting but also to be on hand should any queries arise with the plotting etc. Chris from AllMediaWorks, who had done the filming, also needed to know fairly early in the day whether any changes had to be made before tomorrow night's opening. If there were, he wanted to be in a position to get them in the post this afternoon. The projection looks great and will look really spooky within the context of the play. It has to be right though so a great deal of effort has to be put in to ensure it works as smoothly as possible.

Philip Meeks, the writer, arrived a bit later than he had planned after dramas with his home kitchen plumbing and a subsequent flood, whilst Philip, the actor, was still bemoaning his hotel room was far too hot to allow him to sleep. I offered to swap rooms with him so he could feel a bit more comfortable as the room I had was far cooler and temperature friendly. This he accepted so, hopefully, he will be feeling more refreshed in the morning. By the end of the day it had been a very constructive day, albeit at a painstakingly slow pace. The cast are called for 11 a.m. to continue teching Act Two or Scenes Three and Four as it is more, confusingly, referred to at times. Geoff, Susan, James and the crew will no doubt be in the theatre far earlier than that call time to ensure everything is set. It could be a scary day tomorrow in more ways than one!

I Met A Man Who Wasn't There - Rehearsals

2011-03-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

Monday saw the first day of rehearsals for our latest touring thriller move up to its opening venue - the Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield. An early start as always to get ahead of the M25 didn't quite work out as well as on previous occasions. When I passed Watford Gap Services news came on the radio of an accident just up ahead on the motorway which was causing an hour's worth of delays. Consequently a detour towards Coventry was required and I eventually arrived in Chesterfield at 9.45. By that time the set, props and furniture had already been unloaded and the crew plus Geoff and Susan were on stage. The crew were rigging lights and Geoff and Susan were checking the furniture and props that had just arrived. After unloading all my stuff I went off to park the car at the nearby hotel. On my return things were already progressing and the set was coming together. I left Geoff and the rest of the crew to complete that task and awaited the arrival of the two actors plus James who has joined us as the Male Understudy to Philip Madoc and a second ASM alongside Susan. Once Philip and Cathy had sorted themselves out in their respective dressing rooms they went off to do a line run before lunch.

Geoff had anticipated the cast would be able to get on stage around 3 p.m. but it was a bit later than that when finally the set was as ready as it needed to be to allow the cast time to get to know it all. Then we started from the top and stopped when we needed to in order to sort things out now that we had the doors, window and the props to contend with. It was a slow process but ultimately very productive and all the minor problems had easy solutions which was good. By the time we finished for the day we had managed to get right through to Act Two Scene 2 which is only 9 pages from the end of the play. Everyone left feeling pretty satisfied by what had been achieved although Geoff did look like a man who knew he still had a great deal to do to get the play up and running. As always his set looks great and once all the various dressings and pictures have been added it will the perfect 'location' for the play. I went off to the hotel thinking about walking through the churchyard at lunchtime. Under the shadow of the crooked spire the sight of the many, 'old', headstones moved to one side in order to facilitate a pathway through to the town always reminds me of the film POLTERGEIST. All those spirits disturbed by the building of a new estate that came back to terrorise the neighbourhood. Maybe some of the spirits involved in this weeks' play will be joining them. One thing is for certain it is going to be one scary play.

I Met A Man Who Wasn't There - Rehearsals Update

2011-03-26T04:41:00.000-07:00

After two very productive weeks at Dance Attic we have now finished our rehearsals at the venue. The proposed rehearsals for today [Saturday] were cancelled for various reasons, not least of which the virtual impossibility of getting from East and North London to Fulham Broadway via the tube service as there was disruption on the Circle, Hammersmith & City, District and Central Lines. There was also a Protest March to contend with and the annual University Boat Race which promised huge crowds and a fair amount of accompanying 'chaos'. It was decided to work later on Friday night up until 7 p.m. so that we could make up a bit of the Saturday time. The Friday started with both Cathy and Philip Madoc doing an interview with Mary Comerford from THE STAGE newspaper in the cafe area of the rehearsal venue which had been set up by the writer Philip Meeks. Philip Meeks had come down from Leeds for the Thursday and Friday of rehearsals to see how things were progressing and also to add any assistance he could in the way of character development and plot queries which might have come up during the past week. The Friday was spent doing a 'corrective' run which is pretty much as it sounds where the actors got a chance to query anything that didn't feel right or had been concerning them and I could adjust things if required. Obviously this took longer than just doing a straightforward run but it was very constructive and with added comments and thoughts from the writer's side of the equation the cast left for the weekend feeling more confident about it all.

On the Thursday the sound designer Andy from Channel Zero was also in attendance checking all the cues in the play and getting to know it all before we arrive in Chesterfield. He spent much of his time over the last two days with his laptop in front of him and his headphones on as most sound engineers tend to do. After the end of rehearsals on the Thursday Andy and I headed off to Harold Wood to the premises of All-Media Works who were going to be doing the filming required for the play. Tim, who was in our pantomime at Grays last Xmas, and his Mum Nancy were already there when we arrived having suffered delays on the overground train because of signalling problems. Tim, who doesn't like ghost, said he probably want to see the play even with his projected appearance but Nancy will certainly be there when the production arrives in Southend in May. Tim was very good not only in the filming but with all the sound recording that needed to be done - a mixture of lines, laughs, giggles, screams and wails. It took a couple of hours to get everything 'in the can' and then it was time to walk the short distance back to Harold Wood station and home.

Now it is off to Chesterfield on Monday to finally get everything together in preparation for opening night on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Eastbourne Nick Barclay has been travelling down from his cruise rehearsals in Northampton each afternoon to perform in the evening shows of THE BLACK VEIL with Toby covering the matinees whilst in Peterborough UP POMPEII has been getting huge amounts of laughs with the Key Theatre audiences.

I Met A Man Who Wasn't There - Rehearsals Update

2011-03-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

A week on from the start of rehearsals for I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE and it has been a bit of a messy seven days. On the Tuesday and Thursday of last week I had to miss the rehearsal days firstly because my wife was struck with a sickness bug which culminated in a faint in the driveway on her way back from the doctors, so I was on emergerncy baby sitting duty, and then secondly when the same bug laid me low for 24 hours. The cast deserve enormous credit for just 'getting on with it' and carrying on without the director in situ. The Tuesday was probably more difficult to deal with as we hadn't actually blocked any of the play by that point so the day was spent going over the lines face to face which, both Philip and Cathy had agreed on the first day, was a great help in their individual quests to learn the play.

On Wednesday I managed to block a good two thirds of the piece whilst making sure the two actors were comfortable with it all. I was also mindful of Cathy's recovery period from her recent operation so it was important there were both rest breaks and opportunities to 'exercise' when required. As it turned out the blocking done on that day enabled Thursday to be far more productive than it might have been as, in my absence, a lot was achieved in going over the moves and lines of the first 16 pages [about half of Act One Scene One] as well as an afternoon filled with refreshing the lines of Act Two around the centre table.

By the time we got to Friday then we were in a good position and as far ahead as I had hoped we would be, so the lack of constant 'direction' hadn't had too bad an effect. That day started with a finish to the blocking which allowed everyone, including me, to go into the weekend feeling we had, at least, got to the end of that part of the rehearsal process. The final act of the first week was a run of those first sixteen pages and that particular part is certainly coming together very nicely.

That brings us to today, Monday, when, after a restful weekend, Cathy showed us her lessons in 'walking' with her new hip had progressed well over the weekend. She was pleased to do some exercises in front of the mirrors of the Dance Attic so she could see how she was moving. The weekend of line-learning seemed to have been fruitful to both Philip and Cathy and a run of the first part of Act One again was even more positive than it had been on Friday. After that, when we tackled the less well known part of the first act, things became less slick which was definitely to be expected but the first scene was still looking good by the end of the day. The second half of Act One felt "like something from another world", as Cathy described it, as it had been a number of days since the initial blocking. However after a few, refreshing, runs of the scene and its relevant parts then, that too, was in a better position. By the end of the day the first act was still pretty rough but you could see how it will all work.

Philip, the writer, who is coming down to rehearsals from his home in Leeds on Thursday, was showing that his previous background in PR was coming to the fore as he has managed to secure interviews for himself in the Stage and for Cathy in the Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail, which can only have a positive effect on the publicity for the production. There are a lot of other things going on in the background towards the success of the play so, with another nine days to go, we appear to be on schedule to arrive at opening night in good shape.

Elsewhere last week UP POMPEII had a very good time at Lowestoft's Marina Theatre where great change appears to be afoot, which can, hopefully, only be good news for Martin Halliday's ever hard working team at the venue. The company really enjoyed their time at the most easterly theatre in the country and we will be back with I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE in a few weeks too.

THE BLACK VEIL also arrived at Buxton Opera House where sales were once again very good. There was a lively and complimentary post-show talk on the Friday night where the cast members fielded questions and comments about the play and the production. Saturday night's performance also saw the last for Nick Barclay as he heads off to cruise life for the next eleven months - we wish him well on his new adventure. We also wish his understudy, Toby, every success as he takes over the role for next week's performances at Eastbourne's Devonshire Park Theatre. It will be a bit different to his appearance as the 'body' that has been his part of the production on stage so far.

As THE BLACK VEIL arrives in Eastbourne, UP POMPEII should be set for a cracking week at one of our regular venues in the Key Theatre in Peterborough as advance sales are currently extremely healthy. A week of rehearsals for I MET A MAN is also ahead so it looks like being a busy week.

I Met A Man Who Wasn't There - Rehearsals Day One

2011-03-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

Our latest tour is of a brand new play - a contemporary thriller from the pen of Philip Meeks called I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE. Today we started rehearsals at Dance Attic which will be our 'home' for the next two weeks. An early start joining the commuter rush into London led to a comparatively stress free journey allowing to arrive at Fulham Broadway station only 90 minutes after the overground train left Rayleigh Station. On my arrival at the old Fulham Baths, which have now turned into Dance Attic, I found Geoff, our man of many hats and job descriptions such as Set Designer, Set Builder, Set Painter, Production Manager, Company Manager etc etc all of them extremely invaluable to the ultimate success of the production, marking out the set in the 'Ballroom' - our rehearsal space within the large building. Also there were Cathy Shipton, now only on one crutch after her recent replacement hip operation, and Susan, the Female ASM/Understudy.

Philip Madoc, the other half of this two hander cast, arrived slightly later after he got a little lost in the area as no-one he asked seemed to know where Dance Attic, even the owner of the shop almost directly opposite which was ultimately very frustrating to Philip. However he arrived safely and the teas were bought to get things off on the right note. I thought it was ideal to make sure everyone had the same draft of the script following on from the Script Meeting ten days ago. This also gave us an opportunity to say the lines out loud, something that both actors seemed very keen to do after many weeks of talking to themselves whilst learning the words. This 'read-through' with accompanying amendments took us all day but it was a very productive arrangement and means we can start the actual blocking first thing tomorrow. The two and a half weeks of rehearsals that we have on this play is going to allow us a bit more room for manoeuvre in terms of the schedule and also gives Cathy more time to recover after her operation. We just had to be a bit careful with the angle of her leg in relation to the chairs she was sitting in and there was the occasional exercising of the hip to ensure it maintains its healing progress.

As Cathy went off to get her taxi back to Acton and Philip his tube back towards his home near St.Albans, I reflected on a difficult play that seems to have all the ingredients of a great thriller. Fortunately the return journey to Essex was just as easy as the outward bound one although it was still nearly 7 p.m. when I got home.

I Met A Man at a Script Meeting

2011-03-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

Last Friday saw a trip into London for a script meeting regarding our next tour which starts rehearsals on Monday 14th March - I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE by Philip Meeks aka 'Dame Hattie Doodle' in SNOW WHITE in Arbroath last Xmas. The play is a contemporary thriller which will be having its World Premiere in Chesterfield on March 30th. It will star Philip Madoc, a terrific Welsh Actor probably best known for being the 'U-Boat Captain' in a legendary episode of DAD'S ARMY, as well as DR. WHO & THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS and Cathy Shipton, who was 'Nurse Lisa 'Duffy' Duffin', in BBC's CASUALTY series for about twenty years.

Cathy has just had a hip operation which needed rest to recover from properly prior to rehearsals beginning, so it was to her house in West London that the Philips Madoc and Meeks and me, in my role as director/producer, headed on Friday morning. I had planned to meet writer Philip, who is also well known for writing for EMMERDALE and, more recently, DOCTORS, before the main meeting at a point fairly close to the actual address in Acton. Acton is actually a place within London that I hadn't been to before and, on researching how best to get to my destination, I discovered there were a lot more stations in Acton than I had imagined. In the end the most direct route took me on the Circle/Hammersmith & City Line to Shepherd's Bush Market and then a walk towards Acton. On arrival at the final tube station, contact was made with Mr. Meeks who turned out to be as far as possible in the other direction near another of Acton's many termini. As I walked, Philip got on a bus and we managed to meet up in a small 'Malaysian' cafe without too much fuss. I am not sure where the 'Malaysian' part of the cafe was, as the menu seemed to be pretty much English Breakfast fare and the coffee drunk by Philip was hardly from the Far East. However we managed to discuss several things before heading the short distance to house shared by Cathy and her partner Chris. Philip Madoc's motor bike was in the pathway leading to the front door so we knew we had the right place. Apparently Philip, now in his 70s, has been riding a motorbike since he was 20 so it is more than second nature at his age. "The traffic is far worse now", Philip bemoaned but it was a trip into London, from his base near St. Albans that he had done many times previously.

Cathy was on crutches but she explained quite quickly that it was only for security rather than necessity at this stage. She was obviously keen to allay any fears I might have been having about her ability to do the play. The main purpose of the meeting was to go through the whole play in a read-through type way giving the actors, and me, ample opportunity to ask writer Philip any questions about the characters, situations and plot meanings as we went through. Chris, in a role as host, was very hospitable to us all and had, quite clearly, been very much involved in Cathy's convalescence after the operation.

I MET A MAN WHO WASN'T THERE is a very contemporary thriller which I am sure audiences are going to enjoy and when it all comes together it will be very exciting to watch. Both Philip Madoc and Cathy are extremely keen to understand exactly what Philip Meeks was thinking about when he wrote the play. During the day there were many stories of people on whom the characters were based, as well as anecdotes from Philip Madoc, in particular about his previous life as a Russian interpreter to Molotov, of 'Cocktail' fame, liasons with many famous actresses and also the singer Shirley Bassey. His life has been a rich tapestry of so many things. I get the impression the rehearsal period is going to be full of more stories.

The meeting lasted until nearly 6.30 in the evening, which was late enough for Philip Meeks to be a bit close to missing his return train to Leeds and for Philip Madoc to miss much of the traffic on the M25. I headed back to the tube and joined those who do the daily commute for a living. With the two week rehearsal period taking place at Dance Attic I shall be mingling with the 'rat race' fold for a while too. No doubt by the time we move on to Chesterfield I will be very glad to leave them all to it.

The End of a Wizard Week Through to the Opening of the Veil

2011-03-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

What a busy few days it has been!? Almost as soon as THE WIZARD OF OZ was up and running we were on to the next opening, with THE BLACK VEIL due to begin its Spring dates yesterday evening at Worthing's Connaught Theatre. Jen and Nick, continued their rehearsals in Weston on the Friday morning before Nick went off to a funeral in Devon, which he had asked if he could attend. By that point both of them seemed pretty confident of their lines and, as we still had the weekend and Monday in Southend to get everything together, I allowed Jen to head back towards London too.

The final two performances of THE WIZARD OF OZ went really well with a couple of packed houses and the company thoroughly enjoyed the experience although we did have one absentee from the Munchkins on the morning performance as well as a 'Snow Dancer', who both felt ill. They did manage to return for the last show which was good, both for them and their involvement in the production, but also as it balanced everything up once more. By 6.15 on Friday evening the final curtain came down and the seven days of rehearsals and performances were over. Goodbyes were exchanged and, after loading my car once again, we made our way back towards Essex and home.

The weekend rehearsals in Southend for THE BLACK VEIL, where we put Nick B, aka Tin Man, into the play, went very well and all passed off without too much incident although we discovered Suzanne [ASM/Understudy] is a massive cricket fan who feels the cold and is very keen on her iphone Apps. When I was late on the Sunday because of a problem with my Mum in her Care Home, I arrived to find Nick B going through Act Two with Toby & Suzanne and Jen & Nick M going through Act One. It sounded very confusing but it would appear, from the resultant rehearsal, that it did the trick as both parties were able to get through the majority of the play without too many missed lines. After more intense rehearsals on the Monday, the afternoon run-through was pretty slick and we finished the day with it all in good shape for the opening night. Chris, the CSM, had also been to Theatrical Costume House in Southend to get the final hired pieces of costume and they were packed into my car to go to Worthing the following day.

On the Tuesday, Geoff, who designed and built the set as well as designing the lighting was in attendance at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing to assist with the Get-In and to show Chris how it all went together. The focussing of the lighting was taking place as I arrived at the theatre to offload all the costumes from my car before moving it from the car park next door to the venue, where is costs £18 to park for twelve hours, to a long stay one a bit further out with a £3 daily charge. The black veil, a fairly important prop, and wig for Jen fell out during transit so I was back to the car park during the afternoon to put Chris's mind at rest that he hadn't left both the items in Southend.

The company arrived around midday having all caught the first cheap day train out of Victoria. They set about getting food and drink in, before setting about doing a line run whilst the remainder of the focussing and plotting was being done on stage. In the end there was a slight air of panic from the trio of actors as it was nearing 5.15 p.m. before we were able to start the proposed Tech/Dress rehearsal. Fortunately, as it is a comparatively short play and the resident crew were extremely helpful and accommodating, we did the whole piece by 6.45.

Obviously there was hardly time to reset everything before the house was opened and the very large opening night audience was taking their seats. The performance itself was very good except for a few rewrites in Act One which only I, knowing the play pretty well by now, would have noticed. By 9.15 the long day was over and I congratulated the company on a great opening night. Suzanne, who is fast becoming well known for her ability to tell you when the next train is going to leave the station, was passing me on my walk back to the car park, alongside Jen en route to Worthing Station to get the next departure back towards London.

Before I left the theatre Nick B admitted to having been a little nervous prior to his entrance even after all the shows he has been involved in during his 20 years in the 'business' - "That's the quickest I have opened two different shows", he added, reflecting on THE WIZARD OF OZ starting last Thursday and five days later THE BLACK VEIL had its debut as well.

I returned to my car to find I was locked inside the car park. I vaguely remembered Geoff telling me it shut at 8 p.m. but in the 'excitement' of the night that piece of information went right out of my head. Even on my return to the car park I saw no notices confirming the closure time. I was about to contact Suzanne to get information on the next train to London when I managed to find a telephone number on a wall near the closed exit that got me through to a car park attendant who told me he would be there in five minutes to "let me out". From his helpful attitude and reaction it was pretty obvious this sort of thing happens on a regular basis. So, thankfully, the climax of a very busy ten days didn't end with me leaving my stranded car in a locked car park in the centre of Worthing and I drove home happy in the knowledge another tour was up and running.

A Birthday & A 'Dorothy' Fan

2011-03-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

During the last days of our hugely successful week in Weston-Super-Mare doing four performances of THE WIZARD OF OZ we were visited by a four year old who is mad about the show and in particular Dorothy. She came dressed in a replica blue and white gingham dress and some ruby slippers. Here we see her with the Principals of the show although we left Steph, the 'Wicked Witch of the West' to one side as the little girl wasn't quite sure about her.

We also 'celebrated' the 21st birthday of Sam Gower, who is a degree student at Bath Spa University, based at the nearby Weston College, who was on work experience for the week of the show. The company got together to get him a card and a birthday cake to acknowledge a very special occasion which was presented to him before the last performance on the Friday afternoon.

Wizard of Oz Weston - Last Rehearsals & Opening

2011-02-24T14:55:00.000-08:00

Over the past two days we have completed a Dress/Tech, a Dress Rehearsal and, now by Thursday night, two actual performances of THE WIZARD OF OZ. The last day of full rehearsals began at 11 a.m. in the Rehearsal Room of the Playhouse Theatre in Weston-Super-Mare where we did a complete run of the show with an ageing and slightly out of tune piano to contend with. It did give the cast another run-through of the show and everyone went off to lunch seemingly confident of everything involved, away from the set and costumes. In the afternoon, when the chorus had arrived, we started on stage with choreographer Rindy sorting out the spacing and staging of the numbers. That took us a couple of hours and then we made a start from the top only stopping when the enforced tea break of the chorus arrived at 5. We had a Dress/Tech arranged for 6.30 so everyone was back in the theatre by 6 to get prepared for that rehearsal. The children under License are not allowed to do an onstage rehearsal and then two shows on the same day so they had to miss the proposed Full Dress Rehearsal this morning. Therefore it was only 'Full' in name and not necessarily in terms of cast members. With that in mind it was more important to ensure that the children, in particular, knew exactly what was required of them by the end of Wednesday night as the next time they would be doing their bits would be in an actual performance. The Dress/Tech took far longer than I had anticipated but we still didn't overrun the 9.30 finish time and threw up only a few minor issues that needed sorting out.

This morning, in addition to the Dress Rehearsal, Nick and Jen, two of the cast of THE BLACK VEIL which goes back out on tour at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing next Tuesday, arrived to start rehearsals for that. They were left very much to their own devices for most of the day as I concentrated on THE WIZARD OF OZ but Nick played his part last September and was also the Understudy, with Jen opposite him, when we first did the play this time last year.

The WIZARD Dress Rehearsal with the identified absentees was a strange and almost surreal affair but we got through it. My abiding memory of it was when one of the keyboards lost all its sound on two occasions. Its player, Matt, continued to play the keys even though it was a silent tribute to the actual music required. I suppose he thought the music might come back at any point so his actions would, at least, keep things moving. In the end the problem was sorted out and maybe it was better the problem reared its head prior to the performances.

Just as the Dress ended the Licenced chorus were just arriving for the initial 1 p.m. performance. There was definitely an air of anticipation backstage as there always is on an opening performance but, with only four performances before it all finishes, it is important to enjoy every moment. Both the shows today were very full in terms of audience and the reaction was really good especially for the 4.30 performance. After that show a family had asked if their 'Wizard of Oz' mad daughter could meet 'Dorothy' back stage afterwards. This we had agreed to do so the parents, grandmother and the daughter, who was dressed in a 'Dorothy' dress matching our own Charlotte's one, were shown on to the stage to meet all the Principals. The little girl seemed a bit overwhelmed by it all but Charlotte was terrific with her although the four year old was very unnerved to find the 'Wicked Witch of the West' had actually survived her skirmish with the water in the show and seemed far taller, and greener, in real life!

Then it was time to concentrate on THE BLACK VEIL for the last section of a long day. Back up in the Rehearsal Room we ran through the whole play which, to their credit, the two actors, Nick and Jen, were very good on in terms of their lines. The other actor due to be involved in the play, Nick, aka Tin Man, has a bit of catching up to do but has the advantage of only appearing in Act Two. By 8.45 p.m. we were finally leaving the theatre and heading to various digs etc and, in Jen's case, her Aunt's in Bristol, proving once again that it is good to have friends and relations in as many places as possible when you are touring the country.

UP POMPEII also opened at the Middlesbrough Theatre tonight and that show also had a link today to Weston where it is due to finish its tour in April. Barry, the excellent Front of House manager of the Playhouse, recounted that someone had complained about the interval advert for the tour emblazoned on the Safety Curtain. "It's disgusting that it says 'Get Your Titters Out' with children in the audience", she exclaimed. Now the last time I looked in the dictionary the defintion of 'titter' was 'to laugh in a restrained way; a nervous giggle'. Exactly how that is offensive I am not sure but at least it meant people were reading the advert!

Wizard of Oz Weston - Rehearsals Days Three & Four

2011-02-22T14:57:00.000-08:00

Day three of THE WIZARD OF OZ rehearsals was very much Lorinda the choreographer's day, especially after I woke up with the room spinning every time I got out of bed. As I haven't drunk, except for two small sips of champagne on both my wedding days, since I was 26 a bad night on the wine was defintely not the cause. It was a weird sensation and I could only put it down to excessive catarrh affecting my balance. Anyway enough of the self-diagnosis and I was better by the afternoon after Rindy had grabbed 'the bull by the horns' in dealing with all the choreography. By the time I eventually got in to rehearsals at tea-time after the rehearsals had switched from the Winter Garden to the cleared bar area of the Playhouse itself the majority of the numbers had been set. The excited youngsters were already very much into the show, which is to be expected and congratulated. The numbers although in need of cleaning and more rehearsal were already looking good and by the end of the first day with the kids chorus we were definitely well on schedule.

Day Four was more normal from my own point of view arriving at the Winter Garden at the allotted time of 10 a.m. Rindy did a physical warm-up with the company which they seemed to appreciate and then we set about learning the three part harmony for the finale song of the show. As that started I got a call from Chris, the CSM, asking if I could go across to the theatre where the Get-in had taken place at 9 a.m., and finalise positions for the cloths and flats etc so they were in the right place for focussing and plotting the lighting. This I was more than happy to do as it does save time and any confusion. With all the cloths sorted and the crew much more content about where everything was going to go I headed back across the town square to the Winter Garden rehearsal. The company had moved on to cleaning up the 'Friends' numbers before there was a recap on the harmonies which, even without the youngsters chorus were sounding great.

There was an early lunch for the Principals to ensure they would get the maximum amount of time with the kids due to arrive at 12.30. Once they had arrived and the company was at full strength, apart from one ill Munchkin, we set about blocking those bits of the show that still needed setting. That task took us up to the tea break at 4 p.m. when it was time to change venues as on Day Three. The evening saw two staggered runs in the Playhouse bar which was very helpful to all and I got the impression the company went home pretty happy that it is all coming together. Tomorrow on Day Five, the last full day of rehearsals prior to the first performance on Thursday at 1 p.m., we are in the theatre all day and that is when the show will really start to take shape with scenery, props and finally the costumes. The show is selling remarkably well and if the 'walk-up' is as good as it usually is then we could be close to selling out which will be great.

Talking of good houses, a mention of UP POMPEII in Yeovil over the past two days, where the comedy has played to great audiences who have, by all accounts, really enjoyed the show. Originally they were due to do a third night tomorrow but on Thursday they open in Middlesbrough, a very long way from Somerset, and it is not an ideal or practical task to get the show out at 10 p.m. on Wednesday night and then do a Get-in at 9 a.m. the following morning. The week still feels very exciting and busy and there is a lot going on so no time for resting just yet.

Wizard of Oz Weston - Rehearsals Day Two

2011-02-20T13:27:00.000-08:00

The second day in Weston meant a full company in residence, as both Steph, who is playing the 'Wicked Witch of the West', and Mark, doubling up as 'Uncle Henry' and the 'Wizard of Oz' himself, arrived for the first time. We consolidated all the music and the numbers before I set the recently arrived pair in their sections of Act One.

After a tea break, Rindy started choreographing the first number with Charlotte ['Dorothy'] and Matthew ['Scarecrow'] which took us up until lunchtime. The routine was certainly looking very good even by the time we had got to the lunch break. Once food and drink had been consumed, Rindy carried on doing the 'Friends' songs and dances with Nick ['Tin Man'] getting a bit of a sweat on as a result and 'looking forward' to so much movement once his heavy and bulky costume was added. The same applied to Ross ['Lion'], whose costume is also very warming especially under the added heat of the stage lights. One slightly concerning aspect of the rehearsals was Matt's inability to remember what he was asking the 'Wizard' for. When the answer is 'Brain' maybe he is taking his characterisation a bit too far. However Matt does have a bit of previous as he did mistake 'Robin Hood' for 'Maid Marion' during ROBIN HOOD & THE BABES IN THE WOOD at Grays this Christmas. Hopefully the addition of his costume won't lead to any more memory deficiencies - we shall see!?

Nick who has played the 'Tin Man' on many occasions before, both for BJP and for other companies, seems like an old hand at the role. He does have many reminiscences of past productions including 'Toto, the Alsatian'; a very 'windy' Lion that convulsed the entire cast on one performance and a sound engineer who missed his cue for 'If I Only Had A Heart' and then brought the track in half way through which made Nick look "a complete..." - well I will let you imagine the expression.

After setting the 'Friends' numbers, and the afternoon tea break, I set Steph and Mark into Act Two, although a lot of Steph's scenes in this Act are with the older of the youngsters, if that is not a contradiction in terms. Then it was consolidation time, going over what we had done during the day, and it does look like we have a really good cast.

Tomorrow will be the first of three long days with rehearsals from 10 a.m. to 9 p,m. and the arrival of the children and youngsters chorus. Then the hard work will really start although the past two days have allowed us to get ahead of things in preparation for Thursday afternoon's opening performance.

Wizard of Oz Weston - Rehearsals Day One

2011-02-20T04:24:00.000-08:00

After UP POMPEII had spent a four day run in Blackpool at the beautiful Grand Theatre, the company of that show headed down to Somerset for a two day stint as the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil opening on Monday night. On Saturday morning the north of that same county was our destination as we were to start rehearsals for our Half-term production of THE WIZARD OF OZ. An early morning drive was required to get to the town's Winter Garden for the 10.30 beginning but there wasn't much traffic about, which was probably aided by the rainy conditions. The amount of rain once again showed the difficult drainage on the M25 as compared to the M4 where the former motorway had far more surface water to contend with that the major road heading westwards. The rain also eased off the further we went towards the West country and by the time we reached Weston-Super-Mare it had stopped altogether.

By the time we arrived at the rehearsal venue those who were attending today were already there; Charlotte [who is playing 'Dorothy']; Lorinda ['Aunt Em/Glinda']; Matthew ['Scarecrow']; Nick ['Tin Man']; Ross ['Lion'], Andy [the Musical Director] and Chris [the CSM]. At that point technology did its best to delay things as my attempts to print out the songwords were thwarted by the ink on my printer running out and then the 'dongle' on my laptop losing any semblance of a connection as I tried to e-mail the files to the Winter Garden Box Office. After about an hour of frustrating fiddling we finally managed to get things sorted and we were able to start teaching the music to the company. The first day was a fairly laid back affair as everyone who didn't know each other quickly 'made friends'. The afternoon was spent blocking as much of the show as we were able to without Steph ['the Wicked Witch of the West'], who is arriving on Sunday and all the youngsters who will be with us for the first time on Monday afternoon. By 4 p.m. I made a decision to finish for the day and pick things up on Sunday morning when Steph and Mark ['Uncle Henry/the Wizard'] would be joining us. It is going to be an entertaining week.

UP POMPEII Currently Touring

2011-02-12T05:59:00.000-08:00

A Great Week At Southend Palace

2011-02-12T05:50:00.000-08:00

UP POMPEII has enjoyed a great week at the Palace Theatre in Southend where the show has been seen by some excellent audiences and the company has enjoyed the shows and, for most of them the opportunity to be at home. This is due to the fact that Southend is more than commutable from London and, although there has been a mad rush after the final curtain to get the next train, there has been a relaxed atmosphere backstage.

As the company is based in Westcliff-on-Sea and in the 'old days', whenever they were, the venue was called the 'Palace Westcliff'', it does feel like coming home whenever we play here. The staff and crew are also amongst the friendliest in the country which always goes a long way to ensuring that the company's stay is a rewarding and memorable one. It also meant we were able to get Chris from All Media Works in Harold Hill down to video the show to produce the promo video which you can see elsewhere on this Blog. There was also an excellent review in the local Southend Evening Echo.

I always think the best kind of theatre is that which "provokes a reaction", be that good or maybe in some cases bad, and there was one other less than positive review who felt the play was a bit like a 'sledgehammer to crack a nut'. One thing is for certain UP POMPEII is very funny, unpolitically correct, has sexual innuendos aplenty and, for 99% of the audiences, is a great night out. As my fiercest critic - the wife - said after seeing the show on Tuesday night; "It is just a very entertaining and very funny evening; you don't have to think too much about it all, and I found myself laughing nearly all the time". I couldn't have put it better myself.

Up Pompeii Erupts in Southend

2011-02-07T15:40:00.001-08:00

A full week of performances from Monday to Saturday for our tour of UP POMPEII at the Palace Theatre in Southend started this evening with more laughs from the assembled audience. With the writer Miles Tredinnick and his agent Tessa, also in to see the show it was good to see the production has settled down to really roll along with scarcely a moment to catch your breath before the next 'titter' came along.
Damian was on top form and took every opportunity to get the audience involved in the play and no-one in the cast was allowed to get away with any minute slip-up. It was definitely Ben's turn this evening to be the butt of Damian's quick wit as he came in too early cutting across one of the big man's lines. That led to Damian demanding that Ben go off and start the scene again.

Even though I have heard the jokes, puns and sexual innuendos many times before now, I still find a lot of them very funny and it is good to watch the audiences reactions to the show from sitting nearer to the back of the stalls. Miles and Tessa was very enthusiastic when the cast went out to see them in the bar after the play and Miles says he will back on Thursday with more friends to see his 'baby' once again. I have never written a play personally but I can imagine that seeing your text and story move from script to stage must be an exciting occurence.

Back in the office today it has been a very busy day and there are lots of exciting things in the pipeline. Hopefully we will be able to announce a few of these over the next few days.

Up Pompeii Reaches Buxton

2011-02-03T17:12:00.000-08:00

After a fantastic week in another Derbyshire town in Chesterfield it was time to open the play in Buxton tonight - the capital of the Peak District. It was certainly cold and windy on the 'High Peak' in sharp contrast to the mild and relatively peaceful weather we had left behind in Essex earlier in the day. Although Buxton is actually closer than Chesterfield 'as the crow flies' it takes a good deal longer to get there as the last hour of the journey is full of twisting and turning roads climbing ever higher into the hills of the Peak District. I couldn't help wondering how bleak it must be for the numerous inns and houses alongside the road when the snow came late last year. It would certainly be difficult to get about and get supplies but I suppose if you live in that sort of area then you are prepared for it all and expect to get snowed in at some point in the winter.

Buxton is a beautiful place and the Opera House is in keeping with the rest of the Spa town where water has made the place a household name as much as anything else.

I had left Rayleigh just after midday and collected Damian from his house before heading north. We arrived at the allocated time for a 'line run' which was thought prudent given the five day break since the last sell-out performance at the Pomegranate Theatre on Saturday night. The 'line run' was already in full flow when I did a private audition for our forthcoming Half-term production of THE WIZARD OF OZ in Weston. By the time that had finished the 'line run' had been interrupted by a rehearsal of the end of the play with lights and sound so that the crew knew exactly what was expected. After two full rehearsals everyone seemed fine with it all and the 'line run' resumed, albeit a bit truncated and less official. Damian went from dressing room to dressing room doing scenes with the various other cast members as he does spend a lot of the play on stage just waiting for the other actors to appear to him.

The lines were finished by about 6 so there was enough time before the 7.30 show start time to get some food and drink from the in-town Waitrose. It was seemingly colder and windier even than when we arrived and it was good to get back to the warmth of the theatre once more. There was a relaxed atmosphere in the dressing rooms and the show itself, although played to a smaller audience than most the company had encountered last week, still went really well.

Then it was time to head back across the hills and moors, now shrouded in the black of night, and make my way back down the M1 to Essex.

Up Pompeii - Opening Night

2011-01-27T15:13:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night saw the opening performance of UP POMPEII at Chesterfield's Pomegranate Theatre. The day started with the focussing and plotting of the lighting and the final organisation of the sound effects which are predominantly 'erupting volcanoes'. The cast arrived at 11 a.m. to do another line run before they went off to lunch and to get the last bits and pieces for the afternoon's Dress Rehearsal and the subsequent first performance.

The crew went off for lunch at about 1 p.m. after which we set about setting the sound cues and levels. This took a bit longer than anticipated as it has to be right in order to look wrong if that makes any sense - if you come and see the show you may understand what we mean! The writer of the play, Miles Tredinnick, arrived as we were doing the sound and was obviously really excited at the prospect of seeing his play reach its first production after 23 years of waiting.

As the sound is an integral part of the comedy's finale we did a few rehearsals of the final few pages before starting the actual Dress Rehearsal as well as setting the bows, so that we could run the whole show without having to pause at all. I also took the opportunity to do cast photos and some staged shots as, by the end of the piece, everyone is in a different costume or in various stages of undress. It was 4 p.m. before the stage was re-set back to its opening state and the Dress Rehearsal was finally underway. The Dress was pretty smooth, probably helped by the Dress/Tech the previous evening, and by its conclusion it was in that "really needs an audience now" position particularly as the comedy relies heavily on audience interaction which, with only Miles nad myself in the auditorium to witness the rehearsal was sadly lacking.

It seemed no time at all before the crew were mopping the front of the stage and then Geoff, the CSM, was announcing "this is your half-hour call" and the opening curtain was getting closer and closer. The opening night audience was very good and from the first 'double entendre' they were very much into the humour of the piece. As the Derbyshire Times review of today states "the audience kept erupting with laughter" and there were many times throughout the evening when people were literally 'falling about laughing'. The great reception at the end was testament to the play's success and the tour looks like it is going to be a big hit with audiences and, the promised 'orgy of laughter', will certainly be seen wherever it goes.

In the bar afterwards there was evidence of relief within the company as there normally is after a first night as well as a euphoria that the show had actually gone on. Miles seemed very happy with it all and joined the cast and I for a well deserved curry supper up the road from the theatre.

The show will get better and funnier during its first few performances as everyone, particularly Damian, get more familiar with the piece and gets to know where the laughs are. I was very pleased with how it turned out and am indebted to all those who worked so hard to get the show on, in particular Geoff who, as usual, worked wonders with the wardrobe, props and set dressings.

Up Pompeii Rehearsals Day Seven

2011-01-24T14:59:00.000-08:00

It was up to Chesterfield, bright and early on Monday morning for the penultimate day of rehearsals for UP POMPEII, our first tour of 2011. It was one of those days on the travel front with both the M25 and the M1 being very busy and the latter motorway the scene for quite a few accidents that did nothing to make travel easy. Although Damian and I were only held up for a few minutes, a number of the cast, also heading up to Derbyshire from the South, were delayed more significantly by the resulting traffic jams.

Once in Chesterfield I parked my car outside the front of the theatre mainly because I could. Normally the bays outside the venue are full of taxis but the Taxi Office appears to have been replaced by yet another bar in the road that has so many already. Consequently the lines of taxis had also disappeared. Having unloaded Damian and my office stuff I became very aware of my warning to the cast as we left rehearsals on Saturday, that the Traffic Wardens in Chesterfield are fiercely devoted to their jobs. I was only seven minutes over the allotted hour when I returned to my car to find yet another Parking ticket requesting payment within 14 days to get a reduced penalty - as if they are doing me a favour. To that officious warden I can only say, in the words of 'Lurcio' - "Salute!" complete with suitable hand gesture!?

The cast arrived in dribs and drabs because of the aforementioned traffic problems but eventually, as Geoff, Sophie and the theatre crew continued to build the set, the proposed line run took its course in the dressing rooms backstage. Lunch followed and then by about 2.30 we were able to make a start on the Dress/Tech rehearsal on stage. Geoff has done an amazing job with the costumes and the set from Scenetec and Charlie Camm is looking good. As expected there were quite a few things that needed sorting out as we got to them and these pieces needed to be re-rehearsed to ensure they did actually work. With the set and the costumes to work with Damian was in top form and there were many moments of hysterical laughter throughout the afternoon. The First Act took us until just before 5 p.m. to get through and then it was time for a tea break before heading into Act Two. The cast seemed very relaxed about everything which was good to see. The much shorter second half of the comedy took us until about 6.30 to reach its conclusion. Once again there was much laughter in evidence as well as bits and pieces that caused a few problems and had to re-blocked and re-rehearsed. A brief company meeting on stage at the end of the rehearsal confirmed any other queries the cast and crew had about what we had just done and the impending opening day tomorrow. By 7 p.m. everyone was heading off to digs and hotels and, in Richard's case, his Chesterfield home, to rest after the long day of travel and rehearsals just finished and before the big day ahead.

Up Pompeii Rehearsals Days Five & Six

2011-01-22T17:46:00.000-08:00

Our last two days of rehearsals in Southend were very productive as we were able to finish off the last section of Act Two - probably the most difficult of all the comedy - before the Friday morning tea break. After that we ran Act Two from the beginning and, as it isn't a very long act, we were able to finish in good time before I had a meeting with Ellen McPhillips, the manager of the two Southend Theatres, at the Cliffs Pavilion for lunch. With discussions completed, against the panoramic backdrop of the Thames Estuary, it was another short walk back to rehearsals and the show's first complete run. Miles, the writer, was also back up from his home in Brighton to gauge the progress of his 'baby'. At the end of the run he professed to being 'very excited' about the whole thing and that he couldn't wait until Tuesday night's opening. The run was rough around the edges with a few dropped lines here and there, but everything remains on course for next week. The company are certainly getting on with one another very well which is a good sign and there seems very little evidence of anyone panicking about the impending first night.

Saturday was spent doing another full run after Geoff, who as usual has worked tirelessly to get everything together on the costume and prop front, had finalised a few more of the wardrobe requirements before he headed home to Brighton to do, yet more, alterations. I can honestly say Geoff is absolutely worth his weight in gold and whenever he is involved in a production then I can rest far easier knowing that the wardrobe, dressings and props [and the sets when he produces them] will be of the very highest quality. His attention to detail is second to none.

The full run today was a significant improvement on Friday's effort and there was a far more relaxed attitude to the piece and getting through it all. I hesitate to say it was word perfect but the number of prompts after missed lines was far less this time round. The 'best' memories of the Southend rehearsal period will be Cloudia getting a 'Germaine Greer' nickname for her "That's horrendous!" reaction to one particular sexual innuendo; Jax Roberts declaring "I know everything about the Romans. My Dad has a metal detector!" and Mieke asking me "Do I have to kiss him [Damian] on every rehearsal?". I think those particular remarks will go down in BJP history as 'quotes of the week'.

After making sure we didn't leave anything behind it was time to wish everyone a good Sunday off and a safe journey up to Chesterfield for Monday morning.

Up Pompeii Rehearsals Day Four

2011-01-20T18:02:00.001-08:00

Another very productive day in ancient Italy as we began Day Four by moving into Act Two. Obviously there are some of the actors who are more advanced with their line-learning than others but as most of this company are very experienced in the way we work it is not going to be a problem to get to Tuesday night's opening with the comedy exactly where I want it to be. Damian will be living a little dangerously as always although he did admit that as he approaches 40 this February he does have to do a little more work to get things firmly into his memory. After the number of farces and comedies that he has done, his brain still manages to recall plays and lines from productions he did many years ago.

The first half of Act Two is a section of setting up for the big finale when everyone is involved and I am sure as we get to this part the audiences will be laughing a lot. By the morning tea break we were already halfway through the Act which was coming along nicely. We spent the rest of the day going over and over the first half of Act Two to make sure everyone was familiar with it all whilst Geoff was still sorting costumes and bits and pieces. The last action of the day was to do a complete run of Act One to ensure that was still consolidated after all the work on Act Two. It was good to see that it was and we should be in a position to do a complete run in front of Miles, the writer, at some point on Friday.

Up Pompeii Rehearsals Day Three

2011-01-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

Day three saw the full company in attendance for the first time since the opening day as we set about completing Act One. We started off in the Hall and we ran the comedy from the top first of all to make sure we consolidated everything we had done yesterday. Although it wasn't word perfect it was certainly coming together and it is going to be very funny. It is all about pacing everything and making sure we get to the opening night next Tuesday in good shape. Once we reached the point where everything became new, the speed slowed down, although it was obvious that all those who had been given the day off yesterday had done a lot of work on the script.

By lunchtime we had reached a section where we only required about half of the cast to stay on in order to get to the end of Act One. By this point in the comedy, the sexual innuendoes and the hilarious nature of the piece really come to the fore and we seemed to spend as much time laughing as we did actually rehearsing it all.

For the afternoon session we had to move into the church which. although a little disruptive, wasn't too much of a problem. Damian did a lot of work with two of the girls towards the end of Act One - Mieke, who is playing 'Voluptua' and Lucinda, who is playing 'Suspenda'. I think you can safely say he enjoyed the afternoon as there is a lot of physical contact involved. Mieke's "Do I have to kiss him on every rehearsal?" did cause a great deal of laughter although, as she explained, she was thinking more of Damian's reaction to her smothering him with kisses all the time rather than being upset at having to do it. I told her I thought Damian would be more than happy to rehearse it all afternoon if necessary and by the look on his face this was definitely correct. When Geoff returned from our store and tried Mieke in her costume she certainly looked the part too and there will many men in the audience who will wish they were 'rehearsing' with her as Damian is at present. It was also a good afternoon for Richard playing 'Ludicrus Sextus' who probably hasn't had so much fun in years!

By the end of the day we had reached the end of Act One, albeit fairly roughly, and after a move into Act Two tomorrow morning we will run Act One at some point in the afternoon to ensure it is consolidated.

Up Pompeii Rehearsals Day Two

2011-01-18T13:56:00.000-08:00

If the second day of rehearsals for UP POMPEII is anything to go by then it is going to be a very funny week. The day started off with a journey that reminded me of a trip in the snow during panto rehearsals although this time it was the heavy rain overnight that caused the problems. The incessant rain meant there was five feet of standing water under the A127 at the Fairglen interchange which closed that section of the roundabout. That caused gridlock in and around Rayleigh and it took me nearly half an hour to go about 400 yards. Eventually, having negotiated a few back routes to travel to Southend, I arrived at the rehearsal room about an hour and a half after setting out. Fortunately there was only one of the scheduled cast of the day that had a real problem getting in, as Cloudia didn't actually arrive until nearly midday having found a majority of her intended routes closed because of flooding.

By that time we had already gone through the first part of Act One with Damian, Ben, Jax, Richard and Sophie and it is looking good. Once Cloudia joined us we were able to make further progress until, by the end of the day, we had gone over about half of the opening act. It was a very funny day and Damian was on top form treating us to an impromptu dance and drumming session with Ben during one of the tea breaks.

Geoff was also into wardrobe mode and there were even more laughs as the cast tried on various 'Roman' costumes and wigs. Day Three, with the rest of the cast returning from a day off today, promises to be even more of the same.

Up Pompeii Rehearsals Day One

2011-01-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

After all the pantomimes it was back to something different for the New Year with our first day of rehearsals for our Spring Tour of UP POMPEII. We were back in Southend this time and it was good to get back to a day filled with laughter as the blocking of the comedy commenced. The writer, Miles Tredinnick, was also there to see his play come to life for the first time having written it for the late Frankie Howerd way back in 1988. The script has been updated from its first version but having spent the day watching the cast in action, Miles stated that he thought Frankie Howerd would have been very proud of it. Of course, with Damian Williams in control of the famous role of 'Lurcio', there is every likelihood that the comedy will be absolutely hilarious.

As usual the first day was spent blocking the whole play with the large cast, most of whom have worked for BJP many times before. It was good to see so many old friends and I am sure the tour will be a lot of fun for the company, and hopefully, for all the audiences as well.

Wizard of Oz Kids Auditions

2011-01-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

After a hectic week post panto it was time to head to Weston-Super-Mare on Sunday morning in order to conduct the auditions for the youngsters to appear in our Half-Term production of THE WIZARD OF OZ. Without much traffic to hold us up we arrived in the North Somerset town in good time to sample the lunchtime food in the Winter Garden restaurant prior to making our way to the Prince Consort Hall B where the auditions were to be held.

With Matthew, the theatre manager, in the role of stewarding the auditionees into the hall, when the doors opened there was a constant stream of aspiring Munchkins and Emerald City citizens hoping to get into the show. There was a dancing audition to start with after which we cut the group down by releasing about half of those who had attended. Next it was time for the singing and a brief chance to get to know all those we had left. Both the singing and the brief chat with each one gave us a chance to assess their nervousness under pressure as well as their actual singing ability. There was, as usual in this area, a great deal of talent on show and it was a tough decision to choose the 16 lucky ones who would be able to perform under license to do the production. However after another brief acting audition a choice had to be made although we could have probably used all those we had left at that point.

As usual, the unlucky ones were naturally disappointed and, after telling all those over the Licensing age that we would be able to use them all as well, I did have one mother who approached me as to a reason why her daughter didn't get in. She wasn't annoyed about it, but more upset for her daughter, as it turned out it was her third year of getting down to the final number only to just miss out on actually getting in. I tried to explain that it is very difficult to choose a final group when the competition is so fierce. Her daughter would appear to have been very unlucky to have just missed out three times in a row but I told her that her daughter just needed to keep up all the disciplines of dancing, singing and acting and one day she would be successful. You cannot help but sympathise with those who didn't make it and, as a parent now myself, I know how I would feel if in the same situation with my own son. But rejection is the most difficult thing to cope with in this business and it is how you cope with it that sorts out the ultimate winners from the many losers.

After a photo of all those successful ones it was time to head back to the M5 and M4 and back to Essex to prepare for the first rehearsal for UP POMPEII on Monday morning.

Grays End of Panto Parties

2011-01-15T18:08:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy week after the end of ROBIN HOOD & THE BABES IN THE WOOD at Grays Thameside Theatre and with our Kids auditions for THE WIZARD OF OZ tomorrow afternoon and then UP POMPEII rehearsals on starting on Monday it shows no sign of slowing down some time soon! Here are a few photos of the end of the very successful Grays run including Matthew Shannon ['Smiley O'Riley'] getting very emotional about the sight of so much Chinese at the 'End of Show' party!

Up Pompeii Auditions

2011-01-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

Friday saw a day of auditions for our forthcoming tour of UP POMPEII as we still have two girls parts to cast before we start rehearsals on January 17th. We had booked a room at Dance Attic so it was an early start in the rain to walk to Rayleigh Station to get across to Fulham Broadway and the Putney based studios. Normally it takes about 90 minutes from station to the venue but having paid the 14% higher Travelcard fare ["How can you justify this, Rail Company?"] there was a faulty train in front of ours so the journey was delayed. Let's hope the hike in fares results in a better service at least as I could see no change in any aspect of it today. Fortunately all the tube connections were more efficient and by 9.30 I was walking from Fulham Broadway towards my destination.

With the tour of AVENUE Q rehearsing downstairs, where I met Becky, an old ASM of ours from Yeovil, working on it, I headed upstairs to set things up for our auditions. There were two girls already waiting so I gave them the necessary script and then prepared for the day ahead. I expect the prospect of auditioning 'busty and voluptuous' girls all day might be considered the perfect way for a man to spend a Friday? In reality it is probably the most difficult thing to do as it is important to make sure all the auditionees feel comfortable in a situation that will be something very alien especially during the day. Some years ago I remember auditioning about 50 girls in bikinis in the largest studio at Dance Attic for a play about 'beauty pageants'. Rather than be an ideal afternoon, being in a room full of bikini-clad beauties was actually very intimidating particularly when the atmosphere got more competitive later on. I do remember one poor girl who, in an attempt to look browner and more tanned, had spent far too long on a sun bed and looked like a sun-burnt panda!.

There were no such sights today and the majority of the girls had taken the "come looking busty and voluptuous" instruction to the maximum. UP POMPEII was renowned for its beautiful looking girls with lots of cleavage and it is this that we are looking for in the two parts still to be cast. With Ben helping out with the 'reading in' and the shepherding the girls in and out it was a very enjoyable day. Not necessarily for the fact that we saw lots of beautiful girls dressed up 'to the nines' but also because the vast majority of them were great fun to talk to. There was lots of talent on show too, which is also important to the piece and it is going to be a tough choice as to who we will offer the part to early next week.

In Grays at the Thameside Theatre ROBIN HOOD & THE BABES IN THE WOOD nears the end of its long and successful run with just four more performances left over the weekend. That also means it is party time tomorrow - more pizza - and then on Sunday it will all be over.